A Jewel In The Dark
by TheHerringCalledOmnomnom
Summary: Sapphire Hartzell and her brother Griffon are your typical siblings. Sapphire, being the older one, bosses Griffon around and they are constantly bickering. But what happens when a zombie apocalypse breaks out? Sorry, I'm really bad a summaries, but it is better in the story! Please read! A Daryl/OC story Rated M for language and adult content
1. Chapter 1

Ugh. I hate Mondays. In fact, I can't think of any 17 year old who does like them. Most of my family and friends _love_ Mondays because they are "the start of a beautiful new week". Bullshit. They are the most horrible thing created. I have to hit my snooze alarm three times to actually get the motivation to get out of bed. And this Monday was like any other Monday.

I woke up to my annoying alarm beeping. I reached over and slammed my hand down on the snooze button and fell back to sleep in a few seconds. Before I knew it, the alarm went off again. I decided to get up before dad came in and beat me for all the noise my alarm was making. He wasn't the nicest person, my dad. If he ever had too much to drink, or was just pissed, I was his punching bag. I had grown used to it. I would usually run out into the woods in the back of our house and stay there for a few days before coming back. It was always rewarded with a belt to my ass, but sometimes I just needed a break.

I got up and turned on my bedroom light. I went over to my closet and pulled out a black camisole and army green button up shirt that said "US ARMY" on the front. I then pulled out a pair of tan cargo pants. I always dress like this. It is what I always wore when I was younger. Now it was the only thing I am comfortable in.

"SAPHIRRE!" my younger brother, Griffon, yelled. He walked up to my room and opened the door, which banged loudly against the wall.

"Are you crazy?!" I whisper yell. "Could you be any fucking louder?! Do you want dad to hear you and beat us again? Huh?"

"Sorry" He says, leaning out the door and looking down the hall to make sure that dad was still asleep. He stepped back into my room and shut the door, quietly this time. "He's not awake. That bastard can sleep through anything."

"Anyway, what do you want?" I ask, curious as to why he would risk yelling this early in the morning.

"I wanted to make sure you were up and ready to go" he said, looking down at his feet, as if he were ashamed at such a stupid reason to yell.

"You couldn't have just come up here and told me?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking" he replied.

"It's okay, just don't do that again. I don't want to get in trouble." I said.

We stood in silence for a moment, and then I looked over at the clock on my night stand.

"We should probably head to school. We have ten minutes before the late bell rings" I said, breaking the silence. We live right next about a block away from our school, so we didn't have a very far walk, but I still didn't want to be late for class _again_.

Griffon nodded and walked out of my room, leaving me to gather my things. I grab my torn up backpack that I had owned for 3 years now. I walk quietly down the stairs, careful to skip over the second step from the bottom that creaks really loud. Griffon is already walking out the door. I walk out after him, and we start down the block.

Our walks to school are usually quiet and awkward. Today was no different. We get to our homeroom just as the late bell is ringing. We took our normal seats in the back with all the "goths" as people tend to call them. The teacher was taking role when an announcement came over the intercom.

It was our principle.

"Teachers, please turn on your televisions to channel 8 News. Thank you" he concluded.

The teacher looked confused, but did as she was told and turned the TV on to channel 8. At first it was just the weather woman, and I was really confused as to why he wanted us to watch the weather. Then another newsman came on, and I could instantly tell something was wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N-

Sorry if this story seems a little cliché, but this is my first story, so take it easy on the reviews please. But don't hesitate to give me some ideas. I will definitely take your ideas into account! I am also pretty busy with school, but I will try to keep updating frequently! Thanks!

p.s. I share this account with one of my best friends, so some of the updates or other stories/chapters on here either are by her, or we are writing them together.

~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom

I froze as the words hit me from the newsman; outbreak. I watched in horror as they showed people eating others. But these things weren't quite… people. They were… zombies. No, that was too much of a childish expression. Well, whatever they are, they are dangerous. I look at Griffon, and he had the same expression on his face.

The principle then came onto the intercom again and said we were dismissed for emergency purposes. We all gave questioning glances towards our teacher. She just nodded and started to pack her things. Griffon and I get our backpacks and make for the door along with the rest of the class.

"Oh, Griffon wait a minute. I need to ask Mrs. Myers about our writing assignment. I guess the due date may be pushed back. But I want to make sure. Come with?" I asked.

Griffon sighed. "Okay. But it better not take too long" he answered tiredly.

We made our way to our English classroom. I walked in and I saw Mrs. Myers with her head on her desk.

"Mrs. Myers?" I asked hesitantly.

I heard a groan from her. I guess maybe I woke her up or something. She lifted her head a bit.

"I'm sorry if I woke you but… Mrs. Myers?" I asked as she turned around to face me. But her face was… really different. The first thing I noticed were her eyes. They were bloodshot and an unnatural color. Did she get defective contacts or something?

She suddenly lunged at me. I dived out of the way. Griffon yelled to me to get to the door and run for it. But I wanted to find out what was wrong with her. She lunged at me again, but this time I was distracted by something I saw out the window and she landed right on me.

I screamed, but that didn't help at all. Griffon had run to get someone to help. Luckily, I can bench 150, even though I don't weigh that much. But I have a lot of muscles and muscle definition. I was able to push her off of me. But that didn't stop her from trying to reach out and grab me, or else bite me. Wait, why would my teacher want to hurt me? Then it dawned on me. This "outbreak", it must do this to people. Luckily, I always have my survival knife on me, even though the school has a "no weapons" policy. I keep it hidden in one of my pockets in my cargo pants every day. I never leave home without it. I pulled it out and stabbed her in the chest. Right in the heart. But that didn't stop her. What the hell? That would kill a regular living person. But maybe these things aren't living. They are the living dead that can walk. The walking dead. Walkers. That sounded like a good name to call them. But I couldn't think about that right now. I have to kill this… thing. I decided that I could try the head, as that was the only other place I could think of that would do some damage. She lunged at me a third time, and I rammed the knife into her skull. That stopped her. _You must have to damage their head to kill them_, I thought to myself. I had never killed a person before, which I guess is a good thing, so I just stood there in shock over what I had done. I heard Griffon calling out to me, but I just stand there, staring at what used to be my teacher. Suddenly, I felt a hand slam onto my shoulder and spin me around.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much for reading this. As for Stjarna20 who did favorite this, my friend and I both appreciate it! So. On to the next chapter! Also, sorry for any spelling errors. I forgot to spell check the first two chapters. But I will make sure I do for this chapter and future ones! Happy Reading!

~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom

My heart jumped up into my throat. What was I going to do? Kill another person? I'm already a murderer, so why not? I gripped my knife tightly and spun around with my knife raised, ready to kill. I find myself face to face with my brother.

He caught my wrist before I could stab him by accident. He has those cat-like reflexes like I do. He let go and I let my hand fall limply to my side.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Y-Yeah, I think" I stuttered, still in shock from what had just happened.

"We should get home and find out what's happening" he told me.

I nodded stiffly, and I followed him out of the door. We walked down the hall and out of the school. Nothing could prepare me for what I saw.

Walkers. _Everywhere. _They were all over the street, eating people, or just shuffling around. I gasped and turned to Griffon. I started to panic when he didn't do anything except stand there and stare at them. He is the one who usually makes the first action, whether it be run or stand and fight. I turned around and saw that one was coming near me. I gripped my knife tightly, and ran up and stabbed it in the head. But that was a big mistake. The other walkers seemed to have noticed that I wasn't one of them. I don't blame them. What kind of dead person can run up and stab things like it was no big deal? I was shook from my thoughts by Griffon.

"We have to get out of here!" he yelled.

I nodded and broke into a sprint. We ran back to our house and ran inside. Locking the door behind me, I turned to Griffon, and I can tell he was thinking the same thing I was.

"What the _hell_ is going on?" he asked, astonished at what he had just watched.

I opened my mouth to answer, but just then our father came downstairs. _Shit. Now we're in for it, _I thought. He marched up towards us. I looked at Griffon and he looked back at me.

Dad looked like he was going to yell and hit us again, so I instantly stiffened up my posture.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING OUT OF SCHOOL?" he yelled the question at us. Like we couldn't fucking hear him. We were standing right in front of him, but he just liked to burst our ear drums for his own entertainment.

"They told us to go…" Griffon started, but my dad came forward, and I stepped in front of Griffon to protect him. I know what it's like to be abused all the time. I was more used to it than he was, since I was the oldest I took most of the credit for anything we did that my dad saw as wrong.

Since I had stepped in front, I received the blow. I was actually glad I had stepped in front of my brother. He was on the smaller side, so he would have probably been knocked out by the force. I could taste the blood in my mouth. I looked up at my dad, scared of what was to come next.

"You can't always take everything for your brother" he said with a nasty grin.

"Yes I can" I said, what I thought was, under my breath. But I must have said it loud enough for dad to hear.  
"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME YOU LITTLE SHIT?" my dad yelled.

Gathering all my courage, I stood up from the floor, since the hit had knocked me down. The world was ending, so why not show him how I really felt?

"Yes. I. Can." I said with my teeth clenched together.

The next thing I felt was pure agony. He slammed his fist into my nose, and I fell back to the floor. Luckily, Griffon was behind me to help catch me so I didn't fall onto the floor. I could feel the blood gushing out of my nose. My nose hurt like hell, it was probably broken. I got back to my feet and turned to face my dad.

"That'll learn you to not talk back to your father" he said gruffly.

"That won't _learn_ me shit. I'm done with getting hit for no reason. You need to find a soul, jackass, cause you ain't got one!" I yelled. Oh shit. My southern accent was really coming out. It always comes out when I'm angry.

As soon as I said that, I regretted it. Dad started to come toward me, with a look on his face that said only one thing was going to come. I turned to Griffon.

"Go outside" I told him quickly.

"But Sapph…" he started, but I cut him off.

"Go. NOW. GO!" I yelled.

He rushed out of the house. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged up the stairs and into my dad's bedroom. I knew what was coming, it had happened a few times before. He started to undo his belt. I had been practicing at blocking things out so that I wouldn't have to think about what was going on. But it was hard not to when I felt my pants and underwear leaving my body. I hadn't had this happen in a long time, so I wasn't used to this. It was pure pain the entire time. After the asshole was done with me, he got dressed again, stood up, and left me laying there. I curled up in a ball, and cried. Eventually, I fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N

Wow! Over 100 views! Thank you guys so much. It means a lot! So, onto the next chapter. I should let you know that this story is going to be verrrrrryyy sllooowwww. Norman Reedus (aka Daryl Dixon) said that if there were to be a love interest for Daryl, it would be "a really slow progressing relationship rather than a throw-someone-up-against-a-tree kind of relationship." So it's going to be a long story, probably with some parts that will tease you, just because I can. *rubs hands together and grins evilly*

~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom

_I was in the in my dad's bedroom. I was alone. But it looked… different. It was really dark, but there was a lone light on the bedside table. It provided just enough light for me to be able to see that the room was completely empty, except for the bed and nightstand. I looked around and my eyes fell on a ball of something leaning up against the wall in the corner. I tried to move, but a sharp pain went through my leg. I groaned in pain and looked down at it. I saw to my horror that there was a large cut running from my mid-thigh to my ankle. I was then aware that there was blood running out of my leg. _

_I looked around for something to wrap it up in, and my eyes landed on the blanket bunched up in the corner of the room. But how the hell could I get over there? My leg was fucked up and if I moved it, there was a good chance that it would probably fall off all together! I decided that I could drag myself over there slowly enough so as to not disturb my leg to much. Slowly, I made my way over towards the heap. I reached out to drag it over, but it moved. I jumped back, but that was a big mistake. I nearly screamed out in pain as my leg protested my sudden movement. I looked back to the blanket, and slowly reached out to pull it back. I felt a sharp intake of my breath as it revealed a face that I easily recognized; my brother's._

_He looked up at me, and I gasped as I saw that he was different. He had the eyes. The eyes of a walker. He smiled an evil smile, showing yellowing teeth. He growled and lunged at me. I shouted out in surprise as he fell on top of me. I reached into my pocket while trying hard to keep him from biting me._

_I couldn't find my knife. It was gone. I looked back at him and tried my hardest to push him off of me. But he shifted and slammed his leg down on my mangled one. I screamed in agony. But suddenly I felt something shaking me.  
"Wake up Sapphire!" a voice was yelling. "Wake up! WAKE UP!"_

"Wake up Sapphire!" I heard more clearly this time.

I woke up and realized that I was really screaming. My eyes snapped open and I sat up quickly. I was sweating and shaking really badly. Griffon was sitting beside me, looking at me with a worried look on his face mixed with a scared expression. I realized I was still lying on the floor. And what was worse was that I fell asleep and forgot to get dressed.

I looked around quickly and saw my discarded pants on the floor about 4 feet away, torn with holes in them from the force at which they had been removed. I looked back to Griffon in horror, and then looked down and tried to pull my camisole down to cover myself up. But the camisole was low cut itself, so in the process of trying to cover up my bottom half, I felt a breeze around my chest and realized I HAD JUST EXPOSED MY BOOBS TO MY BROTHER. Could this get any fucking worse!?

Griffon, seeing how embarrassed I was, turned around and grabbed a blanket off the bed and threw it to me. He was pretty unbothered by the fact that his sister was practically naked in front of him. I caught the blanket and looked down to put it on. But I realized why there was so much blood in my dream. Dad had never actually _raped_ me in the past, but he had made me do… other things. I had never had actual sex before. Apparently, he had raped me with an extreme amount of force, because my hymen was completely torn. There was a puddle of blood where I was laying. I looked back up at my brother. I could tell he saw the hurt in my eyes. I felt tears start to well up in my eyes and threaten to spill. _No Sapphire. _I told myself forcefully in my head. _Don't you dare fucking cry. Don't you dare start to show any fucking weakness. You're not low enough to cry. Before crying after dad… did what he did to you, you haven't cried since you were 10. _Griffon saw me trying not to cry. He came forward and sat down beside me.

"It's okay to cry" he said in a soft tone that was surprisingly comforting.

"No, I promised myself I won't cry any more than necessary." I told him, my voice unsteady.

"Well, we should get out of here" he suggested.

"Okay", I said nodding. But then I remembered something. "Wait, where's dad?" I ask hesitantly.

"He's passed out downstairs. Had too much beer." Griffon answered, his voice void of showing any emotion.

"But the screaming didn't wake him up?" I asked, astonished.

"Of course not. Like I said before, that bastard can sleep through anything" He answered, a whisper of a smile on his face.

Seeing him smile like that, I started to smile. It felt good to smile again for once. Griffon pulled me into a tight hug. I'm not really the kind of person to show any emotion towards people, and I'm not a fan of hugs or any expressions of love. The only person I had ever hugged was my mother, and she had died when I was around 5. I didn't know how to respond, so I just kind of sat there without a clue in the world of what to do.

"You're so strong Sapphire. I envy that. The way you can take anything thrown at you at still walk away from it, even with injuries." He said softly.

I just sat there and smiled a little at his kind words. Did he really mean that?

"You didn't have to step in front of me like that. I could have handled it" he told me.

"No, you couldn't have." I insisted. "That hit knocked me to the floor, and I'm both older and stronger than you. It would have done a lot more damage than you think it would have."

"Well, thank you." He said, looking straight into my eyes.

I just smiled. "You know that I'd die for you." I said, which surprised me that I got that sentimental, since I really don't like talking to anybody about my feelings.

"I love you sis" he said sincerely.

I just smiled and nodded. Nodding is my way of agreeing with something, or saying something back to somebody without having to actually say anything.

He stood up and walked over to the pile of torn cloth that once were my clothes. He glanced back at me.

"I'll be right back" he told me.

I nodded.

He opened the door quietly and stepped out into the hall. I heard him walk down to the end of the hall, to where my room is. He opened the door and went in. I just sat there and waited for him to come back. I thought over what had happened. Did I really mean what I said? That I would die for my baby brother. _Of course you did, dumbass, _I told myself. _He's your brother. Family is family. Blood is blood. You stick together, no matter what._ But what about dad? He's blood too. I mean, after everything he has done to me, he can't be worth anything anymore…

I didn't get to finish my thought. Griffon reentered the room with a new set of clothes. He handed them to me.

"Why don't you go get a shower, clean yourself up. It will make you feel a lot better. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be bleeding out of my… well, never mind." He said, his mouth breaking into a wide grin.

I smiled back at him, and soon we both started laughing.

"Yeah, I don't think you would want to know what it feels like." I answered, my grin slowly fading. I went to get up, but there was simply way too much pain and I fell right back down. Griffon, seeing that I was struggling, set the clothes down on the bed and came over to help me.

"I'm fine. I don't need no help" I said. If I was gonna go take a shower, I was going to walk there MYSELF.

"Cut the shit, Sapphire. You need help. Please" he begged. "Let me help you" he said, more softly this time.

I nodded and he reached out his hands and grabbed mine. He then pulled me up carefully, as to not jostle me around too much. As I got up, I groaned at the pain shooting through me. Griffon took my arm and wrapped it around his shoulder and put his other arm around my waist to steady me and keep me upright.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"I-I think" I said through clenched teeth, trying to ignore the pain shooting throughout my entire lower body.

We made our way slowly to the bathroom. He sat me down on the toilet.

"Do you want to get a shower or a bath? Or both?" he asked me.

"Both?" I asked.

"Yeah" he answered like it was no big deal. "You can get a shower and rinse yourself off and then lay in the bath for a while."

"But…" I started, but he cut me off.

"Don't worry. Dad is passed out. He'll be out for another three or four hours." He said, with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"That sounds nice" I answered.

"Okay. I'll get the water running. Will you be okay standing up by yourself?" he asked, worry lacing his voice.

"Yeah, you don't have to get in with me" I joked.

He grinned. "Okay hold on. I'll go get your clothes and then help you in." he stated.

He went and came back with the clothes he had laid on dad's bed. He started the water and helped me in. He sat on the toilet, just in case if I were to fall or need him. After I was done with my shower, I stepped out and wrapped a towel around myself. Griffon got up and drew up a bath for me. He even went as far as to get some of the Country Chic bubble bath for me from my room to put in. I got in and as I soaked in the bathtub, Griffon talked to me. He talked about random things, like failing classes and how he won't have to worry about grades now that the world has "ended". About his friends and video games. I laid back and just listened. It was nice to spend a little time with my brother without having dad screaming at us. I know some people would think it was weird that a girl and her brother were in the bathroom together, but I could care less. I was covered by bubbles, and he was a good person. He would never do anything like that. It was the best I have ever felt in a long, long time.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N

Thank you so much for those of you who have followed and favorite this story! As for the 200+ people who have read it, please favorite/follow and review! I really don't want to get writers block anytime soon, and reviews help me get chapters out faster and they encourage me to keep writing! And I was thinking of playing around with my writing/updating schedule a little bit. I was thinking one chapter every Monday, and one chapter sometime later in the week. I know it sucks to have to wait a whole week for just one chapter. I will try to update twice a week, and work my way up to three or four chapters a week. All the same, check back every day just to see if I posted a new chapter. Thanks!

**Disclaimer- I sadly do not own any ideas or characters from AMC's The Walking Dead except my own ideas and my OCs. **

~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom

Listening to Griffon talk reminded me that there is still good in the world. Even when dad yells and beats us, Griffon has been one to always say something to distract you from your troubles.

I was laying in the bathtub still, and the water was starting to get cold. Griffon seemed to have that thought cross through his mind at just the same time it did mine.

"The water must be getting cold by now" he said.

I nodded in agreement.

"I'll step out of here and give you some privacy while you get dressed" he said.

I just nodded again.

He stepped outside and I got up and pulled the plug to the drain. I stepped out carefully, so as to not slip and fall. I had to admit, I think a bath was just what I needed. It did make me feel cleaner, and in more ways than one. I wrapped a towel around myself and dried myself off. I then pulled on the outfit he had brought in for me to change into. He definitely knows how I dress. He had laid out a pair of old blue jeans with rips and holes, mostly around the knees. They were my favorite pair of jeans. They fit me nice and snuggly, but also allowed my skin to breathe and me to move around comfortably. He had also brought one of my flannel shirts and a white tank top to go under it. He had also brought me my brown Laredo western boots. Shit, I have had those things to a few years now, and they still fit perfectly. I pulled my clothes on and wrapped the towel around my head and towel my hair dry. I opened the door and walked out into the hall. I made my way back to my room, where Griffon was sitting on the edge of my bed, looking at a framed picture I had on my bedside table. He looked up when I came in, smiled and put the picture back on the nightstand.

"I miss her" he said simply.

I nodded in agreement. "Me too."

"I checked downstairs. I think we should get as much shit as we can and get out of here." He said.

"But what about dad? We can't risk him finding us." I said.

Just as I said that I heard I noise downstairs. Griffon must have heard it too, because his head whipped towards the door. I quietly crept to the door. Griffon shook his head frantically at me.

"It's okay, I'm quieter than you. I can check real quickly" I said, trying to reassure him.

Reluctantly, he nodded. "Okay. But please, be careful Sapphire"

I nodded and slipped out the door and down the stairs. Dad had just shifted his foot and knocked the TV remote off the coffee table. I snuck back upstairs and slipped back into the room.

"It's okay, he just knocked the remote onto the floor" I told Griffon.

"Okay. Well, we should still get out of here. This is really the end of the world. We can't survive here forever." He said in a hurried tone.

"Okay. Go to your room and grab everything you can fit into as many bags as you have. Take your duffel. I'll pack some of my things, and then we'll meet back in here. Okay?" I told him.

"Okay, see you in a few minutes." He said, getting up and walking down the hall to his room.

I went to my closet and pulled out a big army duffel bag and started shoving clothes and toiletries and anything else we may need. After a few minutes, Griffon returned to my room with his own Army duffel, packed full with his things. I was just finishing up putting some deodorant and body washes from the bathroom into it.  
Griffon raised his eyebrow at me, and grinned.

"Don't look at me that way Griffon. If we are 'running away', then we need things to keep clean." I explained.

He just nodded, still grinning. We made our way out of my room. I shut the door quietly behind me. We slowly made our way downstairs and into the kitchen. I opened the cabinets and started to take anything I saw and put into a second duffel bag Griffon had found in dad's room. I went to grab a jar of peanut butter, but it slipped from my hand a fell to the floor. I flinched as it hit the floor. Then I heard a grunt and the recliner closing. _Shit. Dad heard us. We're dead._ I back up and Griffon backs away with me. Dad comes stomping into the kitchen.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO…" then he noticed the jar of peanut butter laying on the ground. "Trying to steal food, huh?" He looked at me with a nasty grin. "I thought you had learned your lesson." I slowly reached back behind me to wear I had secretly tucked my Colt Python into my waistband. I didn't want to have to use it or show it to Griffon, as I didn't want to worry him. Dad started to come forward at us. I gathered all of my courage and pulled the gun out and held it out in front of me. I pointed it at him. That made him stop in his tracks.

"You wouldn't shoot your own father. You're too _weak_" he emphasized the word 'weak'.

Griffon looked at me with scared eyes. I just put a hard look onto my face and pulled the trigger. Dad crumpled to the floor. I had hit him dead center between the eyes. I have been shooting since I was able to walk. I could shoot anything from a hunting rifle to a compound or even a crossbow. I slowly lowered my gun. I felt no guilt. I didn't regret it. I never will. I expected Griffon to turn away from me or be afraid of me. But he ran up and hugged me. _God, why does this kid always have to be such a hugger? _He quickly realized what he was doing and let go and stood back.

"Thank you" he whispered, tears of joy in his eyes.

I nodded. "Come on, we should be getting out of here." I grabbed the two heavier duffle bags and Griffon grabbed the lighter one with his clothes. I grabbed the keys to the old truck that used to be dad's until a few seconds ago. I have also been able to drive since I was about 10 or so. Everything that an adult knows, I learned when I was really young. Hunting, fishing, driving… surviving. I had to do it all to survive. I looked through the peephole at the front door. There was a crowd of walkers crowded around the door. I looked back at Griffon.

"We'll have to go out the back way, the front way is blocked" I told him.

"Okay. But what about gas? Where are we going? What will we…" he started bombarding me with questions, but I raised my hand to silence him.

"We will cross that bridge when we get there. Let's just focus on getting to the truck without getting eaten first." I told him.

We went to the back door and I opened it a crack and looked out.

"It's clear, but we have to stay low and run." I told Griffon over my shoulder.

I slowly opened the door, and we crouched and ran for it. We made it to the truck, and we threw our bags into the back. I hopped in the driver's seat while Griffon quickly got into the passenger's seat. I started the truck and was relieved to see that there was a full tank of gas. I turned out the radio to try and find out what was going on. The radio was really crackly, but I was able to make out some of the words.

_Atlanta…safe….stay inside….government has this under control…_

"Yeah, my ass they have it under control…" Griffon said, but I shushed him so I could hear.

"Well, I guess we're headed to Atlanta" I said. Griffon just shrugged his shoulders in agreement. I started the truck and pulled out onto the road. And we started our long journey to Atlanta.

**A/N**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! It helps me write faster and gives me more motive to write!**


	6. Chapter 6

I stared straight ahead as we drove along the freeway. We had been taking back roads for the past three days now. Luckily, my truck is good on gas, so we have only had to stop and fill up once. I figured the gas stations would have been already sucked dry, but we found one that still had a little left in the pumps. It was nice to not have to pay for gas for once. We would drive until sundown, and then rest in the truck for the night. At the first hint of morning light, we would continue our journey to Atlanta. When we got onto the freeway, you could tell that it was the path everybody had to get on, because cars were backed up and abandoned as far as the eye could see. We would weave out way through the cars. That was how we knew we were getting closer to Atlanta; the number of abandoned cars increased.

"I'm so bored" Griffon whined from the back seat.

I just smirked. Of course, even during an apocalypse, Griffon could get bored.

"Yeah, that's a real world problem right there" I said sarcastically.

Griffon replied with a "fuck you" and fell silent. I reached over to the console and opened it. I pulled out the stash of CDs I had packed and transferred into the truck. Griffon looked at the CDs, and a smile found its way to his face. I had hidden my iPhone 5 in it that I had bought with the money I had earned from work. Dad hadn't know that I'd bought it, and I had been able to keep it a secret for a few months. Now I didn't have to worry about hiding it. I had downloaded all the music I had listened to on Pandora to a music app I had downloaded. Luckily, I was able to put a new stereo into it a few weeks ago for dad, and it had a USB and an auxiliary port so that I can play music through it from any device. I plugged it in, and put on a song we both knew and loved; Weight of the World by Evanescence. It seemed to fit the moment pretty well. We both started to sing along to it, and I found my mood lifting slightly. I looked back to Griffon, and he looked happier than he had in a long time. At least the kid wasn't bored anymore. I looked back to the road and saw a sign that said "Atlanta: 2 miles". I looked at Griffon and smiled. He looked at me, and we both knew we had finally made it. I got to the outskirts of the city, and parked the car. Griffon looked at me questioningly, but I just shook my head.

"We need to save all the gas. Leave the bags here, maybe we will be able to come back and get them." I told him

He nodded and we both got out. I jogged down one road to an intersection. The streets were completely deserted. Not a soul in sight. I walked into the intersection, and stopped and just stared around. I saw Griffon heading down a street, so I followed him. He seemed to know where to go, so I figured I would just follow. I caught up with him, and grabbed his arm just as he was about to turn the corner.

"We need to be careful. We don't know if the refugee center is still up and running or not. There would be more people around here if it was." I told him.

"Okay" he said. We peeked around the corner and I almost gasped at what I saw. Walkers. More than there were in our little town. There must be a few thousand in that crowd. I looked back at Griffon, and gulped while shaking my head. We turned around, and saw something coming at us in the distance. It was a car. Looked to have about 6 people in it. They slowed down when they got to us. They opened their doors and stepped out. One of them came up to us. He had a baseball cap on, and he looked to be of Asian descent.

"Hey" he said.

I just nodded, and Griffon mumbled a "hi" back.

"Are you guys lost?" he asked.

"Well…" Griffon started. "We just came here to see if the refugee center was still standing…" but he was interrupted by a sharp jab of my elbow into his side. He glared at me, and I glared right back. We didn't need to be telling a group of strangers our whole life fucking story.

"Oh, well you'll have a hell of a time trying to find it" the guy said. "Oh, sorry. Glenn. Glenn Rhee." He said holding out his hand. Griffon reached out to shake it, but I instinctively stepped in front of him.  
"Sapphire. This is Griffon, my brother" I said, motioning behind me to him. Griffon shoved me aside so he could see.

"This is Jaqui" he said, pointing to the African American woman, "Morales", a Hispanic man, "T-Dog" the African American man, "Andrea", a younger blond haired girl, "and Merle". He pointed to a man who had a buzz cut, strong arms, and a demeanor that said not to fuck with him. The smile he gave me sent shivers up my spine.

"Are you all that's left?" I asked Glenn.

"No, we have a group back at camp" he said.

I pushed my red hair behind my ears and looked at Griffon. He just looked back and shrugged.

"Do you have anybody else with you?" asked Jaqui.

"No, it's just us" Griffon answered.

"Would you want to come back with us, maybe?" Glenn asked. The blond, Andrea, just huffed.

"What, now we're bringing random strangers back? I thought we came here for supplies" she said, her voice exasperated. _I don't think I really like this chick_, I thought.

"Well, it's up to this little lady and her brother" said the guy with the buzz cut, Merle. He looked me up and down, and it just made me plain uncomfortable.

I exchanged glances with Griffon.

"Can I have a word with my brother a minute?" I asked as politely as I could manage. Glenn nodded. "Thanks"

I dragged Griffon by his sleeve and turned him around.

"What the fuck were you thinking back there? You can't just tell people we just fucking met where we're going or what our plans are! They could be dangerous!" I whisper yelled at him.

"What else could we do?!" he whisper yelled back. "We can't survive on our own forever Sapphire. We need a group, they have one. What other option do we have?"

"We. Don't. Know. Them." I said fiercely.

"But we can get to know them! C'mon Sapph, we need people. There's safety in numbers. I'm thinking of us living, not just myself" he reasoned.

I sighed heavily. "Okay, but we have to be careful" I answered. He smiled and jogged back over to tell Glenn that we could go back with them. I looked after him a minute before following back.  
"Our car's pretty full" said Glenn.

"It's okay, I have a truck" I replied from behind Griffon.

"Okay, then it all works out" Glenn said with a big smile on his face. I walked back to our truck and drove it back beside their car.

We made our way to the store they were planning to loot, and we all started packing stuff into bags to take back. Glenn said he was going to go up to the roof to scout out a way back to their camp without getting noticed by the walkers.

"I'll come with you. I'm pretty good at scouting" I told him.

"Okay. It will go faster with two people looking" he said.

As we made our way up the stairs, he told me about what his life was like before the world went to shit. He was a pizza delivery guy and loved video games. His favorite was portal 2, which I had played before with Griffon and his friends. I have to agree, it was a really fun game. We got to the top and Merle was up keeping watch. He looked around when we closed the door. He smiled at me and Glenn.

"Didn't think I could handle it by myself up here, Chinaman?" he asked Glenn.

"I'm Korean. And Sapphire and I came up here to scout out a way back to camp" he answered hotly.

Merle just smirked and went back to keeping watch. _Well, this guy's a real asshole_, I thought to myself. Glenn and I went to the edge of the building and looked down. I looked around while Glenn used the binoculars to see the exits from the city. I looked down and saw a tank down in the middle of the street. _It must be a pretty serious epidemic if it took the guys in the tank. That thing is industrial, _I thought. I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. It wasn't moving like a walker would. It was going a lot faster. Too fast for a human. A horse. And what's more, there was a man on it. Riding straight for the hoard of walkers in the street that was across from the tank.


	7. Chapter 7

My eyes widened. Should I shout out to the guy? No, that would draw the attention of the walkers, and it would put us and him in even more danger. But I couldn't just let him run right into the herd!

"Glenn!" I whispered frantically.

He jogged over. I pointed down to the guy on the horse, now making his way around the corner. Glenn's eyes widened just as wide as mine were. We watched as the horse rounded the corner. The walkers all looked up at it, and started for it. The horse bucked, and for a minute I thought the guy was going to get bucked right off. He held on, though, and snapped the bridles of the horse and ran down the street towards the other end. But he must have attracted some when he rode in, because there was an equally big herd blocking his path. His horsed bucked him again, and he ended up falling to the ground.

My eyes widened in the fear that I would have to watch someone get eaten alive. But he crawled under the tank. I couldn't see him, so I just hoped that he would make it. Some of the walkers were trying to get under the tank, and a few succeeded. The rest were busy eating the horse. Suddenly, I heard a series of gunshots. He must be shooting them down as they crawl under the tank. Then, just as quickly as it had started, the firing stopped. Had he gotten bit? Did he run out of bullets? Then, he popped out of the top of the tank, and he got a look of what we were seeing. There were walkers everywhere, you could barely see the street. A few started to climb up the side of the tank to get to him, but he quickly closed the lid. So, now he's trapped in there. That's just peachy.

"We have to help him" I told Glenn.

"How?" Glenn asked. "There are too many walkers".

I sighed heavily. I looked around, and my eyes rested on the radio on his belt.

"Give me your radio" I ordered.

"Wait…what are you…hey!" he protested as I grabbed the radio. I turned it on, and tried to find out what station the tanks might be on. It's a modern day tank, and I've been inside them more than a few times. I knew most everything about them. I tuned the radio in, and hoped and prayed to God there would be another voice on the receiving end.

"Hey, you. Dumbass in the tank. Cozy in there?" I asked. Glenn snickered. I shot him a glare and he stopped. This wasn't the time for laughing. All I got in response was a faint crackling noise.

"Hello. Is anybody there? Are you bit?" I asked.

"No" I heard a rough southern voice come in.

"Oh, good. You're alive" I said.

"Yeah. What's going on out there?" The voice asked.

"It looks pretty bad. Walkers all over, although most of them are eating your horse." I said.

"Yeah, you should see it from up here, you'd be having a major freak attack" Glenn said, grabbing the radio from me. I about face palmed. Even in a dire situation that had someone's life dependent on us, he could still be a geek.

"Got any advice?" the man asked.

I grabbed the radio back from Glenn. I paused a moment before answering. I was weighing out the odds, and whether they would be in his favor or not. "I think your best bet is to make a run for it" I told him.

Glenn looked at me like I was crazy, but I shushed him before he could say anything.

"Is that it?" the voice asked.

"Pretty much. How much ammo you got?" I asked him.

"Hold on, let me check." He responded. A few moments later, he came back on. "I've got a full beretta clip, 15 rounds, and a grenade" he answered.

"Make 'em count" I said. I turned to Glenn. "Where can he meet us?"

"Down the alley a block, maybe…50 yards from where he is now." He answered.

"Meet us in the alley about 50 yards from where you are. If you climb out and run down the street on the opposite side of the tank, you can make it." I told the man.

"Hey. What's your name?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Have you not listened to one goddamn word I said? You don't have much time. I'll tell you when to go. Just don't fuck this up for yourself." I signed off, a bit agitated.

"Come on, we have to get down to that alley. We'll meet him down there and bring him back with our group." I told Glenn.

Glenn nodded and started down the stairs. I followed quickly after him. Once we got to the bottom and out the back of the store, I radioed back to the guy.

"Go. Now's your only chance. We'll meet you in the alley we talked about. Make those 15 rounds count" I told him. I heard him respond with an "Okay". Not 10 seconds later, we heard him shooting as many as he could. We started to run down the alley so that we could open the gate that barricade that kept the walkers out for him. We just got there and opened it up when he came around pointing a gun in Glenn's face.

"Whoa, whoa, not dead!" Glenn cried. The man ran in and we closed the gate quickly, but we didn't close it far enough. The walkers started to spill through.

"This way! Up the ladder!" I yelled to them.

I ran for the ladder with Glenn and the new guy hot on my trail. We climbed up as fast as we could and got to a metal landing. I bent over, wheezing from all that running. Glenn and I both looked at each other and nodded. A job well done.

"Rick, thanks" the man said.

"Sapphire, this is Glenn. You're welcome" I told him. "So what, are you the sheriff, come riding in to clean up the town?" I asked him sarcastically.

"I didn't know what was left here" he replied.

"Yeah, yeah, Yeehaw. You're still a dumbass" Glenn said.

"We need to get back to the others." I told Glenn. I looked up and saw the ladder we had to climb.

"On the bright side, it'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass half full kind of guy" Glenn said.

We started the climb, and made it to the top in no time. We ran across the roofs and Glenn opened up a door that had a ladder leading down into another alley.

"Hey" Rick asked. "Why'd you risk your neck back there for me?"

"In case if I'm that far up shit creek, you would have done the same for me" Glenn responded.

Rick turned to me, his eyes asking the same question.

I shrugged. "Wouldn't look good on me if I'd let you die back there" I responded.

Rick smiled. We made our way back down into the alley. Glenn took out his radio.

"We're back, brought a guests. Two walkers in the alley. Take em out" Glenn told Morales.

Two guys wearing riot gear came out of the door ahead of us and started to beat the walkers. They smashed their heads in while we ran in through the door, and they followed right behind us, slamming the door shut and locking it.

All of a sudden, Andrea grabbed Rick by his shirt and pointed a gun at him while pushing him up against a desk. I pulled out my gun and aimed it right between her eyes.

"We're dead because of this asshole." She growled.

"Andrea, back off" Maorales told her while taking off the riot gear.

"NO!" Andrea yelled.

I cocked my gun. "You shoot him, I shoot you." I said menacingly. I wasn't going to let all that hard work of saving this guy go right down the drain. I then noticed that she had the safety on. Talk about a dumb blonde.

Andrea finally backed off and lowered her gun, but she was half crying. "We're dead because of him. We're never gonna get out of here"

"Yes, we can. We'll find some way. There's got to be another option." Glenn said.

Jacqui shook her head. She dragged us to the front of the store and pointed at the two sets of glass doors.

"Every walker for miles heard you popping off rounds" T-Dog said.

"You just rang the dinner bell" Jacqui said.

We looked in horror as we saw a sea of walkers trying to break through the glass at the front of the store.

"We have to get back to camp" Glenn said.

"The refugee center?" Rick asked hopefully.

"Yeah, they have biscuits waiting for us in the oven" Jacqui said, sarcastically.

We were interrupted by a series of gunshots. They were coming from the roof.

"Oh, no. Is that Dixon?" Andrea asked. We all ran up the stairs as fast as we could. When we got to the top, I was the first out onto the roof. Merle was standing there firing down at the walkers.  
"Merle, what the hell are you thinking?!" T-Dog yelled.

Merle turned around to face us, and smiled. "Well, now. You should be more polite to a man with a gun" he said.

"Man, you're wasting bullets we ain't even got, man!" T-Dog yelled at him.

"You think I'm just gonna stand here 'n take orders from you? Yeah, that'll be the day." Merle said.

"T-Dog, just back off…" Morales said.

"NO!" T-Dog yelled. "That'll be the day? You got something you wanna tell me?" he asked Merle.

"Yeah, I'll tell you the day, 'Mr. Yo', it's the day I take orders from a nigger" He said.

T-Dog swung at him, but missed. Merle took the butt of his gun and rammed it into T-Dog's face. T-Dog fell to the ground and Merle tackled him and pointed his gun at him. I couldn't just let the asshole do this. We don't need this right now.

"Merle!" I shouted. He stopped and looked at me.

"What, you think you're gonna take me on?" he said smiling. "Oh, wait a minute. You're the _new_ girl, right?"

"Yeah, I'm the new girl." I said walking up to him. "And I'd like to introduce myself formally to you" I said. I pulled back my arm and punched him square in the nose. Immediately, blood started gushing out of it. He took a swing at me, but I ducked. I had taken fighting classes when I was younger, but they were no good. I learned to fight the hard way. I was constantly getting into fights at school, but luckily, dad didn't give two shits about it. I ducked and punched him in the gut. He punched me in the cheek, but I barely noticed. I was pissed off, and I mean PISSED OFF. I tackled him, but not before kicking the gun out of his hand. Rick threw me something, but I didn't realize what it was until I caught it. Handcuffs. I flipped him over with all my strength, since he was a pretty muscular man, and handcuffed him to the piping running across the roof, while pointing a gun at his head.

He looked up at me and smirked. "You really know how to fight, girly." He said.

"Grew up fighting." I answered simply. "Now, there are no _niggers,_ or _white trash_. There's humans and walkers. Us and them."

"Screw you" he answered simply.

I pressed the gun harder against his temple. "You ought to be more polite to a woman with a gun to your head. Common sense, right?" I said, mimicking his words from earlier.

"Yeah? Well, screw ya twice" he said.

My parents had friends who were police officers, so I knew about searching to make sure I'd gotten his weapons. I reached into his pockets, and felt a little baggie in his vest pocket. So this guy was a pot head too. I pulled it out and held it under his chin, and he looked down to see what I had found.

"You got a little something under your nose" I said, flicking him under his nose.

"What are ya gonna do, arrest me?" he teased.

But he stopped laughing as he saw me draw my arm back as far as I could and throw it off of the roof.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doin!? That's my stuff!" he yelled, rattling the handcuffs in protest. I walked away to the side of the roof, rubbing my jaw where he had hit me and my fist which hurt a little from connecting with all the muscle he had.

"I'm gonna kick your ass! You hear me!? YOU HEAR ME?!" he yelled.

"Yeah, your voice carries" I answered. That seemed to piss him off even more. Rick came over and stood beside me.

"I didn't know you were on the police force." He said.

"I wasn't. We had friends that were, though" I responded.

"We?" he asked.

"Griffon!" I called. He came forward and stood beside me. "This is my brother, and over there is Jacqui, Glenn, T-Dog, Morales, Andrea, and I guess you've met Merle." I said, glaring at Merle.

"I'm Rick Grimes" he said.

"Where you from?" Morales asked.

"Down the road a ways" he responded.

"How far _down the road a ways_?" Morales asked.

"Outside the city" Rick replied.

"Look this is great and all, but how are we gonna get out of here?" Jacqui asked. And that question brought us back to reality. What _were_ we going to do?


	8. Chapter 8

A/N

I'll try to get one more chapter in before Easter. If this isn't up by Saturday, then it will be the normal Monday upload. But whether in advance, or belated, I hope you all have a happy Easter! Get lots of candy and sugary things! I might upload another chapter if I get this one done before Easter. But it is a lot to write, so I might upload another one on Tuesday. Happy Easter! Or spring break. Whatever you want to call it. XD

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY OCs AND MY OWN IDEAS/VARIATIONS TO THE PLOT.**

~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom

"Can I see your binoculars?" Rick asked Glenn.

Glenn handed Rick the binoculars and Rick scanned the area. He stopped moving and stared intently at something in the distance.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Those construction trucks, they always have keys on hand. We can use one of those to get out of here." He replied.

"But how do we get down there?" Glenn asked. "We can't get there through the streets without being noticed."

"Maybe not above. What about the pipe systems or sewers?" Rick asked.

"Sapphire, go look down in the alley. See if there are any man hole covers" Rick told me.

I walked to the edge of the roof and looked down into the alley. My eyes scanned it quickly, but unfortunately, I saw none. I walked back over to them.

"There aren't any in the alley. They must all be out on the main street where the walkers are." I concluded.

"Well, now what?" Glenn asked.

"Old buildings like these, they usually have passages down into the sewers on the bottom floor if the place ever floods" Jacqui said.

"How do you know?" Glenn asked.

"It was my job. I used to work in buildings like these" she responded.

We all looked at each other, and walked back down towards the bottom floor in the basement. We saw in opening in the floor. As I got closer, I could see that there was a big drainage pipe and a ladder going down to a patch of concrete in front of the drainage pipe. I looked around.  
"Who goes, who stays?" I asked.

"I'll go." Glenn said.

He shined his light down and looked into the pipe.

"But" he said. "We have to do this _my_ way. I can't have all of you following me in case something is down there and comes for us. I can't have all of you behind me keeping me from getting out. It will just get us all killed. I'll take one other person. _One._ Andrea, you and Rick have guns. You watch the front of the store. Morales, Griffon, you guys go gather up the bags and try to get any more supplies you can find. Jacqui, you go with them. T, go up to the roof and try that radio to see if you can let the group know we ran into a little trouble. Sapphire, you'll come with me. You have quieter weapons, and you're quick and agile. We'll radio back to you guys if we find anything, then we'll come back and get you. Okay?" he explained.

We all nodded. Jacqui, Morales and Griffon walked off back up the stairs to search for supplies. Rick and Andrea followed behind them to guard the doors. T-Dog headed up to the roof to keep trying the radio. Glenn turned to me.

"You ready?" he asked.

I nodded. He climbed down the ladder, and I quickly but quietly followed after him. I turned my flashlight on and we walked through the sewer pipe. I heard a crunch, and looked down to see that I had stepped on a rat skull. Glenn looked back at me, shined his light down at my feet, and scrunched up his face in disgust. I just shrugged.

"I'm used to it" I told him.

We continued our journey down the pipe. It went on a pretty long distance. We came to a gate that blocked off the rest of the way. I looked to Glenn.

"Well, back to square one…" he started, but was interrupted by a hand and a growl. The hand grasped the front of his shirt. He tried to pull away, but the walker had ahold of him pretty tightly. I took my machete and chopped its hand off and stabbed it in the head. Glenn nodded in thanks, and I nodded back.

"Nothing down here. Might as well head back" I told him. We made our way back to the entrance and climbed back up the ladder. We headed to the front of the store, while Glenn radioed into Rick that we were back. We got to the front of the store, and found Rick and Andrea. They told us that right before we came, the walkers had broken through the first set of doors. We only had one more set protecting us. We had to work fast.

A/N

Sorry for the short chapter! My teachers decided to dump a whole shit load of homework for me to do over the break. I'll try to update soon!


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Note PLEASE READ**

I'm so sorry I haven't uploaded anything for a whole week! Life has just been very busy, school has been dumping a shit ton of projects and homework on me, and I just haven't had time to write. Sorry to keep you all waiting, especially on a cliffhanger. I know what that's like, believe me! Thank you for the faves and follows. REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS! They help me write faster and better! So sorry guys!

~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom

"What are our other options?" Rick asked.

"Aside from seeing you, they can hear you, smell you, and if they catch you, eat you" Morales answered.

"They can tell us by our smell?" Rick asked.

"They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct." Andrea said.

Rick looked at us, and then ran back to the alley where Morales and T-Dog had beaten the walkers. He opened the door slowly, and then peeked out to make sure there were no walkers.

"Morales, help me" he said.

Morales rushed to his aid, and together they dragged a walker into the garage area. Rick then grabbed a bunch of packs of rubber gloves and threw a pack to me. I caught it, and looked at him in confusion. He then took a hammer he had found in the area, and smashed open the glass case that held the fire ax. He grabbed it and walked over to the walker. I had to admit, this guy was pretty intelligent when it came to utilizing his resources. He put on a plastic cover helmet on his face and put on a lab coat. He then ran up, raised his arms, and went to chop the walker up. But he stopped suddenly. He bent down and began searching through the walker's pockets. _What is this guy doing?_ I thought. _Money isn't of any value anymore, and he's a police officer. It doesn't make any sense, _I thought. He then pulled out a wallet and opened it up and looked at the driver's license.

"His name was Wayne. Georgia license. He had $28 in his pocket when he died. And a picture of a pretty girl." Rick said. He flipped the picture over. "With love, from Rachel" he read. "If I ever find my family, I'm going to tell them about Wayne." He said. He stood up and put the plastic cover back down over his face and raised the ax.

"One more thing" Glenn said. "He was an organ donor".

We all exchanged looks. Rick brought his arm down and chopped the walker right down the middle. Everybody groaned in disgust. It didn't bother me too much, but I still had to look away for a second to gather my sanity. We were chopping up something dead. It was already dead. I kept reminding myself that. Rick continued to chop up the walker until the thing was near unrecognizable.

"Alright, everybody put on gloves. Don't let it get on your skin or in your eyes." Rick said.

We began to rub the walker guts onto him and Glenn.  
"This is so gross" Glenn said.

"Think of something else. Puppies and kittens." Rick told him.

"Dead puppies and kittens" T-Dog said.

That took Glenn over the edge. He turned away from us and puked.

"That is just vile. What the fuck is wrong with you?" I snapped.

"We need more guts" Rick said. He grabbed the ax and chopped the walker up more, if that was even possible. Andrea handed Glenn a gun.

"Just in case" she said, stuffing it into the waistband of his jeans. I looked at Rick, and he nodded.

"I think that's enough. Let's go Glenn" he said. He threw me a key.

"It's the key to Merle's handcuffs. Unlock him, and be ready to go." He told me.

I nodded and held the key tightly in my hand.

They walked out into the alley, Rick with the ax in his hand, and Glenn with a crowbar in his. Like Andrea said, just in case they ran into trouble. I ran up the steps to the roof, with T-Dog, Andrea, Jacqui, and Griffon behind me.

"Hey! Hey! What's goin on? What…" Merle started to protest.

"Shut it, we have to make sure Glenn and Rick get there safely." I told him.

"And you're tellin me _Officer Friendly_ went out there with the key?" He asked me.

I smirked, and held up the key and dangled it from between my thumb and index finger. Merle just stared for a minute, and then looked down at his knees. I took the binoculars from Morales and looked through them. I scanned the streets, but couldn't find them. I started to get worries. What if they hadn't made it out of the alley? What if the plan didn't work? I suddenly spotted them walking amongst the walkers. I had to admit, they blended in pretty well. I had trouble finding them, and I'm a hunter with excellent eyesight. They were slowly making their way to the construction site.

"Where are they?" Morales asked.

I handed him the binoculars, and he looked through them and found Rick and Glenn. The binoculars were passed down the line until everyone had reassured themselves that the two were still alive. I took the binoculars back and looked through them. They weren't even half way there yet, and the sky was starting to cloud over.

"Please don't rain, please don't rain, please don't rain" I hissed over and over again under my breath. They were about half way there when little raindrops started spitting out of the sky.

"Shit" I said.

The small droplets soon turned to a torrential downpour. I started to worry. The rain will wash the smell off. Without the smell covering them up, they're dead.

I looked through the binoculars again. They were still making their way to the site. All of a sudden, a walker lunged at Rick. He brought the as down on its head, and yelled to Glenn to run. They started to sprint through the rain, with the walkers hot on their trail. They got to the fence, and climbed over it. Glenn ran to a building and reappeared with something in his hand. He yelled to Rick and threw what I'm guessing were the keys. Rick, meanwhile, was shooting at the walkers that were managing to get over the fence. I stood horrified as I saw the fence break down. Rick caught the keys and he and Glenn made it into the truck safely. They started the truck and drove through the back gate. But they kept going. They weren't coming our way, they were leaving us!

"They're leaving us! What the fuck?!" Andrea yelled.

"I'm sure they're not leaving us. They are probably coming a different way. The shooting and fresh meat brought the walkers to where they need to get through. They're probably going to double back." I assured not only her, but myself as well. I looked back out, but didn't see any sign of them. I then heard a voice come through the radio. I looked over at T-Dog, who was holding it, and we all crowded around him to hear.

"Be down at the back loading dock, be ready when we get there" Glenn said.

"Okay" T-Dog said.

We all grabbed our stuff and ran to the stairway.

"Hey hey, wait a minute! What about me?!" Merle yelled.

Shit, I had forgotten all about him. I scrambled for the key, and found it in my pocket. I ran over to unlock him, but my foot got caught on it and I fell and dropped the key. I searched with my eyes and they landed on the key falling down the drain pipe.

"God damn it!" I yelled.

"Bitch, you did that on purpose!" Merle yelled at me.

"I swear I didn't mean to!" I yelled back.

"Bullshit!" he yelled.

I looked around and my eyes landed on a tool bag. I grabbed a hack saw and ran back over to him. I started sawing at the handcuffs, but couldn't make a dent. I looked around exasperated. We would be screwed if we weren't down there when Glenn and Rick showed up. Then I got an idea. Coming from the kind of family that I did, I knew how to pick locks. But what is there around here to pick a lock with? I reached up to smooth my hair back that I had put up, and felt a bobby pin in my hair. Perfect. It would have to do. I pulled it out and turned to Merle.

"Now. I'm going to try something, but don't give me any shit about it, 'cause remember, I'm actually trying to save your racist ass" I hurriedly told him. He just gave me his usual glare, but it wasn't as hard as before.

I bent down and started to pick at the lock. It's a skill that not many people know how to correctly. The bobby pin slipped out of my hand, and dropped to the ground.

"Fuck" I said. I picked it up again, and continued trying to open the handcuffs. I heard a faint _click_ and the handcuff fell away from Merle's hand.

"Jesus" Merle said, while rubbing his wrist, which was bloody from him trying to pull away from the piping. I unlocked the other handcuff that was attached to the piping, and stuffed them in my pocket. Rick might want them back. I turned to Merle.

"We gotta go." I told him.

"You ain't apologizin'? He asked me.

"What do I have to apologize for?" I answered back. It's incredible that I just saved this man's ass, and he is so ungrateful. "Besides, you never apologize. It's a sign of weakness. Leroy Jethro Gibbs' Rule Number 6" I had loved NCIS, and I made it a point to memorize all of his rules and practically live by them. Merle just looked at me like he was impressed that I had such strict guidelines.

"C'mon, we gotta go" I said, more urgently this time. I turned and started for the door. I heard clinking behind me, and turned to see Merle picking up a bunch of tools and putting them into a bag. I must have spilled it when I tripped. I raised an eyebrow.

"These are Dale's, and he'll be pretty pissed if somebody don't bring 'em back." He answered.

I just nodded and continued to the door and started down the stairs at a running pace. Merle was following close behind me. I ran through the store, and saw that the walkers were just breaking through. We ran to the back, but there was nobody back there. We looked up and saw the truck driving away.

"God fucking damn it!" I yelled at Merle.

"Keep your voice down girly!" Merle hissed at me.

"IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER ANYMORE, THEY FUCKING LEFT US FOR DEAD! SOME FRIENDS YOU GOT!" I screamed at him.

I looked around, and felt overwhelmed. We had no way out.

We are going to die.

**A/N**

**I know this isn't following the story line, but I don't want this story to seem too cliché and follow the story line exactly, not there's anything wrong with that. I just wanted to change it up a little bit. PLEASE REVIEW! It helps me so much! Thanks for reading! Love you guys! (and you girls) **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or its characters. Only my OCs and original ideas.**

We had to get moving. The walkers are starting to notice us, and I wanted to keep my skin _on_ my body, thank you very much. I looked around quickly, and spotted a small fenced in convenient store. I motioned with my head to Merle, and we ran over to it. I climbed over the fence, and Merle followed, though with a little more trouble. He was older than me, so it would be harder for him to do all of this physically exerting stuff. I open the door of the store slowly, keeping to the shadows. I slowly slipped inside, listening for any growling noises. There were none that I could hear, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything in here. I looked around, knife raised, since that was the only thing I had with me. All my other weapons were in the truck that LEFT US BEHIND. I had a gun, but I had given that to Merle. I'm not saying I trust him with a gun, but I will not let someone, even if I don't like them, die on my watch. I nodded to Merle, and he rushed in, with his gun, well _my_ gun, raised. I walked to the back of the store, and checked all of the rooms, to make sure nothing was here. There was no one. I walked out back into the store area, and saw Merle with a big bag of cheddar and sour cream chips in his hands. I smirked. Men. They are always eating. I was never allowed to eat much. That's why I was kind of tiny in build. Dad would only give me so much as a 7 year old would eat. But my brother's friends would always give me and him some of their lunch. But it still didn't make much of a difference.

"Hey girly! I ain't gonna ask again. You want one?" Merle said impatiently. I came back to reality. I must have been so deep in thought that I didn't hear him over me any. I walked over and took a handful. I popped one in my mouth. It was the most wonderful thing I had ever tasted.

"These are really good" I commented, going back for seconds.

"Ya act like ya never had these before" he said.

I looked up at him. "My dad never let me eat more than a toddler. About once or twice a day. At most. He wasn't the nicest son of a bitch, my dad." I told him.

"Yeah, neither was mine" Merle said. He turned to look up at me. His eyes actually lacked that asshole kind of look in them, and looked a little concerned and questioning. "Your daddy beat you?"

I hesitated answering. I nodded. "That wasn't the worst that he did" I nearly whispered.

Merle must have seen the hurt in my eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm not the type for mushy lovey shit, but no human deserves that" he told me.

I smiled. He actually cared. A little. "What about you?" I asked him.

Merle nodded back. "Didn't beat up on me as bad as he did my baby brudder" he said. "Took most of his anger out on Darylina."

I nodded. I started pacing around the store. I pace when I'm thinking or nervous. Right now, I was doing both. I looked out the window at the back of the store into an alley. There was only one walker back there. And a really nice new green and black mustang. Looked like the owner bought it just before the apocalypse. I turned to Merle.

"Watch my back" I said.

He nodded and grabbed his gun off the shelf and followed me out to the back. I opened the door to the mustang and sat in the drivers' seat. The key was still in the ignition. Finally, a bit of fucking _luck_ for us. I got out and went to the back of the car. I put my hands up against the top of the back door and shook the car. I could hear the gas sloshing around in the gas tank. We had enough to get to the edge of town where the truck was parked. I had followed the others in with it, but decided that if something like this happened, I should leave the truck at the edge of the city. I had driven it back when the others were first going in to collect supplies. So, it was just sitting in there with me and Griffon's things in the back. I turned to Merle.

"I think this car can get us to the edge of town, where my truck is parked. We'll drive back to camp with both." I told him.

"Okay, but I'd feel more comfortable drivin' the truck." Merle said. He looked to the car. 'It's purty damn nice, but I don't know how to work this kinda shit."

I smirked. "I'm kind of bad with new shit like this too, but I did learn about trucks and cars and mechanics and all that shit. I think I can drive it." I said calmly, but on the inside I was freaking out. I've never even been near one of these high tech cars, but it would be nice to try one out, see if they are as good as the ads say they are.

"Let's go back in and grab as many things as we can." I said.

We headed back inside and found a bunch of the reusable shopping bags. I went to the canned food isle and started to throw some into the bag. We went isle by isle until we had what we needed. I looked behind the counter and found cigarettes for Merle. He said that his brother likes cigs too, so get some for him. I saw some sunglasses, Ray Bans they looked to be. I picked them up and tried them on. They fit good and kept the light out. I put them back in my bag and continued with my "shopping", if you could call it that. I found a bunch of candy behind the counter also. I stocked up on everything back there, from Swedish Fish to chocolate bars to warheads. If there were any kids back at the camp, they might enjoy these.

"How many you got? Back at the camp?" I asked Merle.

He thought for a minute. "Prolly 'bout 20 or so."

"Any kids?" I asked.

"Yeah, 'bout 5." He answered.

I nodded. "Well, my bags are full. We better get going if we're gonna get there before dark"

"Yeah, let's go" he responded.

I picked up all my bags and carried them out to the car. I put them in the trunk, which was rather small for such a nice car. Merle stuffed the rest of the bags into the back of the car. I looked to the sky, and saw it was already dark.

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow to leave. Maybe we can hit a few more smaller stores." I reasoned.

"Sounds good, we just better hope Darylina don't lose his cool too quick" He answered.

We went back in to the store. I found a blanket and put it down on the floor. I went to keep watch, but Merle stopped me.

"Get some rest girly. I got watch covered" he said.

I didn't know if I should trust him or not. I mean, this is a matter of life and death if no one is on watch. He did stick with me this far. I nodded, and went back behind the counter and laid down on the blanket. I curled up, and went into light slumber, just in case I was needed.

I woke up a few times during the night when Merle would rustle a bag or walk around the store. I opened my eyes again, wondering what had woken me up this time, but saw the sky starting to lighten up. I sat up and stretched my arms. I got up and wrapped the blanket into a ball and tucked it under my arm. I looked out to Merle, and he nodded back. I motioned my head to the door, and we walked out back to the car. I checked both ends of the alley, and saw that it was clear. I peeked out at the main road, and saw that there weren't many walkers out there. I walked back to the car and looked at Merle.

"There are barely 10 walkers out on that main road. We can make it, but we have to be quick." I told him.

"Okay then. Let's go." He said.

I got into the drivers' seat and closed the door. Merle got into the passenger seat. I turned the key, hoping it would start. I heard it sputter and rumble in protest, but it finally started up. I backed out of the alley, and started down the main road as quietly as I could. It was really hard to not rev the engine or test to see how fast it would go. That would make noise, but _damn, _that would be a lot of fun. WE drove for about 5 minutes and I finally spotted my truck up ahead. I pulled up beside it, and stopped the car.

"Nice truck" he commented. " '84 Chevy k10, right?"

"Yep" I answered.  
He got out and climbed into the drivers' seat. He looked back to me. "Keys?" he asked.

I took them out of my pocket, and rolled down the window on the passenger side of the mustang. I threw the keys to him and he caught them. He stuck them in the slot and it started up right away. I leaned over to the passenger window.

"I don't know where this camp is, so you'll have to lead me to it. I'll be right behind you." I told him. I looked back and saw that the walkers were starting to come for us. I pointed back at them and smiled at Merle. "Let's have a little fun with those shitheads"

Merle smiled and put on some gas and started to drive out. I waited until he was almost out of sight, and then revved the engine as loud as I could. _This is gonna be fun_. I slammed my foot down on the gas and the tires spun against the blacktop. The squealing of them only made the walkers angrier. I smiled as the car took off down the road. I got to going pretty fast. I looked at the speedometer and saw that I was going about 90 miles per hour. _Nice._ I was up beside Merle before I knew it, and I slowed a bit so that we were going the same speed. I rolled down the window of the mustang.

"So how far out is this camp?" I yelled over the engines.

"It'll prolly be close to dark til we get there" he answered.

I nodded and was about to roll the window up when I realized that this was a free as I have ever been. I rolled all the windows down and shouted at the top of my lungs as I whizzed down the highway. Most people would just shut up and focus on getting home, if you could call it that, but I felt free for the first time in my life. Like, _free._ No more beatings, no more starvation, no more living in a shitty house. All of that was gone. And for the first time in my life, I felt relaxed, that everything was going to be okay.

**REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS!**

**Please leave a review! It helps me so much. If you have any suggestions or comments, I would love to hear them! Thanks for reading! I'm trying to get back on my schedule. Easter really screwed it up, with all of the stuff I had to do. But I will be going back to 2 chapters per week, Monday and then sometime later, like Friday or Saturday. Thanks again! You guys are awesome! 3**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer- I own nothing except my OCs and my own ideas**

The sun was just starting to set when my engine started to sputter. I looked at the gas gage and saw that I had probably a fourth of a gallon left. This camp seemed to be pretty far out of Atlanta. I let off the gas enough to fall back into sync with Merle. I looked out the window and looked to Merle. He was smoking a cig and looked to be deep in thought. I didn't want to pull him from his thoughts, but I needed to know how far away we were since I was running low on gas. I was about to ask how much further it was, but he pulled ahead and turned off onto a back road. I guess we were closer than I thought. We went up a long, snaking trail on the mountain. Merle pulled into a parking lot. I was still going pretty slow, so as to not make too much noise. By the time I got up there, I was about sick form the twisting roads. I shut the car off, and got out and went to turn around. I stared right into a loaded bolt in a crossbow. The man pointing it at me stared at me like I was the devil. I knew right away that he would not hesitate to pull that trigger. I looked behind him and saw two more people with guns pointed at me. One had curly dark hair and the other was older with white hair and a beard. He was standing up on top of an RV.

"Guys, it's okay. She helped save me from Atlanta." A voice came from behind them, which I instantly recognized as Rick's.

The two men with the guns lowered their weapons, but the guy with the crossbow refused to put his down.

"Daryl!" The guy with the dark curly hair said harshly. The man, Daryl, winced, and hesitated lowering his crossbow. I sighed, exasperated, and brought my arm up and pushed the crossbow down. He jerked back like I had burned him or something, and glared at me. I glared at him and walked to the group.

"Where's Griffon?" I asked.

No sooner had I asked the question Griffon appeared and looked at me. We nodded at each other. That single nod said everything that needed to be said without getting to emotional. Rick walked up to me and put his arm on my shoulder, which made me flinch away. Rick looked at me with apologetic eyes and removed his hand.

"Everyone, this is Sapphire. She's Griffon's brother, and the girl who saved me from being tapped in the tank for all eternity" he told everybody, with a small smile. Some people said hi, some nodded, or some, like Daryl, just stared at me. I nodded back to them. I _hate_ being the center of attention. Suddenly, a woman with long brown hair rushed up to me and pulled me into a tight hug. I stood there, again, not knowing what to do, and let her hold me.

"Thank you so much for saving my husband" she nearly cried while whispering to me. I stood there, wishing she would let go of me. Rick came up and pulled the woman away from me. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded. "Sorry. I'm Lori Grimes. You know my husband, Rick. And this is Carl." She said, motioning to a young boy who looked to be about 10 or so. She wiped her eyes and hugged Rick. Another man came up to me, the one who had the curly dark hair.

"Shane Walsh. Rick's deputy" he said, holding out his hand. I hesitated, but eventually reached my hand out. When our hands touched, I tried my best not to flinch away. We shook hands briefly, but as soon as I could, I let go. I took the chance to look around and get a view of my surroundings. There were a lot of tents forming a semi-circle. There was the RV, a few other cars, and a big campfire pit. There wasn't really much of a fire in it, only glowing embers. I guess so that they couldn't be found by walkers or other people. I looked to my right and saw Merle going back to what must be his tent, and Daryl following him. So, this _Daryl_ must be Merle's brother. Interesting. Some of the people went back to the fire. Shane went back with Rick and his family. Glenn appeared and smiled really big when he saw me. I gave him a small wave and walked over to him.

"Hey. You made it." Glenn said as calmly as he could. But I could tell he was overjoyed to see me.

"Yeah, I did." I responded.

"Well, I guess you're staying?" he asked hopefully.

"For now" I told him.

"What do you mean?" he said, his face falling a bit.

"Griffon believes it's safe in numbers and we need to stick with you guys to survive. I think we'd do just fine on our own, but I need to look out for my brother. You seem like good people, but I can't be completely sure until we've stayed for a while." I explained to him. I think that was the most words I had ever spoken in a conversation.

Glenn nodded in understanding. "Well, I guess you'll need a place to sleep. You and Griffon." he said.

"It's fine, I can take watch on the RV if you want…" I started.

"No. You need sleep and you've done more than enough for us already. Please." He practically begged me.

I looked him over, contemplating what he said. I nodded. "Okay"

Glenn grinned and went to one of the cars and opened the trunk. He pulled out a bag and brought it over to me. "Here's an extra tent. It's big enough for you and Griffon. You'll have to set it up over there between the Peletier's and Daryl and Merle's tent." He said.

I winced. Now I have to sleep in a tent near the man that wanted to shoot me? Great. Just fucking great. I took the tent from him. "Thanks Glenn." I said.

I walked over to Griffon, who was hitting it off with Carl and another little girl with short dirty blonde hair. I walked up behind him and tapped him on the back with my knee. He looked up from where he and the two kids had been sitting on the grass and talking.

"Hey. Sapph, this is Sophia." he said, motioning to the girl.

"Hi. You're Sapphire?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Griffon was telling us about you." Carl said.

I looked at Griffon and he just shrugged back at me. "We have a tent to set up. Can I borrow my brother for a minute?" I asked the kids.

"Sure" Sophia said.

I motioned my head to where we needed to put out tent up at. Griffon stood up, nodded, and walked over in that direction. I smiled as best as I could at Carl and Sophia. "Thanks. You can have him back after we get the tent set up."

Sophia giggled. "Okay" she said, smiling.

I turned and walked over to Griffon. I started to take everything out of the bag and set the tent up. With Griffon helping me, it only took about 10 minutes. I walked over to the convertible to get some of the stuff we got for the group. There was a good crowd around it. Everyone was admiring it. I opened the trunk and back doors. I turned to Shane. "Merle and I were able to get as much stuff as we can. There's food, drinks, and other necessity items in there." I told him.

"Thanks. We needed more supplies anyway, so this saves us a trip into town." He said.

"Where'd you get such sweet ride?" Glenn asked. He was looking at the car as if it were a naked model or something.

"I found it in an alley. Gas in the tank and everything" I said.  
"Can I drive it?" he asked.

"Sure, whenever you get the chance. You might have to fill the tank up" I told him.

He almost jumped up and down at that. I turned around to go to my truck to get my and Griffon's things, but came face to face with Daryl. He was quiet enough to come up behind me without me hearing him. _He must be a hunter like me, _I thought. I looked at him, and he just looked away. I stepped around him, and walked over to my truck. I climbed up over the tail gate and into the bed of my truck. I checked to make sure all of our bags were still there, and they were.

"GRIFFON" I shouted out to see where he was. He came running over.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Take your bags over to our tent. Here." I said, tossing him his two bags. He caught the first one with ease, but the second one nearly knocked him over. He recovered quickly, blushed and walked over to the tent. I picked up the remaining two duffle bags, the heaviest ones that Griffon would never be able to manage in a hundred years, and put them crisscrossing over my chest and shoulders. I climbed over the tailgate again with some difficulty and jumped down. With that much weight on my shoulders, my knees buckled a bit, but I was able to stand back up. I walked around the side of the truck and nearly ran into Daryl.

"What, are you followin me now? Makin sure I ain't killin nobody?" I spat sarcastically.

"Hey, listen here girly, I didn't know who you were. I had to protect the group." He growled back.

"Whatever" I said. I continued over to my tent.

"You sure you can handle that much, princess?" he said.

I kept walking to the tent, but I could hear him following me. Why couldn't this asshole leave me the fuck alone? I set the stuff down inside the tent. I turned to Daryl and took a step towards him.

"You sayin that just cause I'm a girl?" I questioned back.

He looked at me, and gave me a cold hard glare. I returned it with as much venom as he was giving me. "Fuck off" I told him, and turned to walk away. But he grabbed my arm and yanked me back. I jerked my arm out of his grip.

"Don't talk to me that way" he hissed.

"Don't fucking touch me again, or I swear to God, it'll be the last thing you ever do. And yes, that's a threat." I growled at him fiercely.

"You can't do shit to me" he near yelled at me. "You're just some wanna-be country bitch"

My mouth dropped. How could he talk to me that way? Most of the camp was watching us, some with looks of shock, and some with amusement. I drew back my hand and punched him as hard as I could in the cheek. He stumbled back.

"SAY THAT AGAIN, I FUCKING _DARE_ YOU!" I yelled at him. His hand went for his knife, but I already found myself reaching for mine as well. We both drew them, and I faintly heard people gasp and call for Shane or Rick. Daryl took a swipe at me, but I was too fast and dodged it easily. I swiped and narrowly missed his arm. He swung again, but I kicked his arm with my foot and the knife flew out of his hand. I put my knife in my other hand, and tackled him to the ground. I heard shouts, and I swear some of them were cheering me on. Merle's voice was among them. I wound my arm around the front of his neck, putting him into a choke hold. I held my knife near his throat. Rick and Shane came running up, but stopped when they saw me. Rick almost smiled. Shane just looked at me with great surprise.

"Choke hold's illegal!" Daryl gasped out.

"Yeah? Well, why don't you file a complaint?" I asked sarcastically. He struggled, but I easily held him in place. I was standing with him kneeling on the ground by now. "Now, I would _like_ to go back to my tent and unpack my things. Is that too much to ask?" I asked him. He didn't answer. "Is that too much to ask?" I said, more fiercely this time.

"N…No" Daryl gasped out, rudely.

"Good." I answered. I pulled my knife away and put it back in my holder. I took my arm off of his neck and let him fall to the ground. He rubbed at his throat, and looked back to me. I just bowed sarcastically, and walked back to my tent. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but I didn't give a fuck. He had it coming. They want me out, fine by me. I walked into the tent and continued unpacking stuff. Maybe staying with this group wasn't gonna work out. I heard someone come in behind me, but I didn't turn to look.

"Hey. Sapphire?" a voice said that I recognized belonged to Shane. I heard someone else come in, and I guessed it was Rick. "Please, look at me."

I turned, with a cold hard glare at them, but it softened when I saw that Shane and Rick were smiling. Shane looked near tears. I gave them a questioning look. Shane just chuckled.

"That was pretty impressive, what you did back there." He said.

"I understand if you want me to leave." I said.

Rick and Shane looked at each other, as if it surprised them that I had said that. Rick looked back to me.

"Now why would we kick a girl out of a group, a _girl_, mind you, who kicked Daryl's ass?" Rick asked.

"I could have killed him" I said.

"I know you, you wouldn't do that. Daryl had it coming." Shane.

"You don't know me. Don't under estimate me." I told him.

"The point is, I'm not mad." Shane said. "That doesn't mean you can go around putting people in headlocks when they piss you off, but still, I want you to stay. You're a valuable asset to the group."

"What about Daryl?" I asked.

"Oh, he grabbed his crossbow and stalked off into the woods. Probably won't be back for a few days. Needs to calm down. I would love to hit replay and watch it again, but that doesn't mean I want you to do it again." Shane said.

"Understood." I said. Shane stood up and left the tent. Rick smiled at me.

"Next time, though, choke up on your hold. Your arm was a bit low." Rick said to me. I smiled at that. This camp was alright. Besides Daryl, of course.

**A/N**

**I didn't want you guys to be confused. This all is happening around sundown. So, there is still some light left when Daryl and Sapphire are fighting. Just wanted to clear that up. Thanks for reading. Oh, and don't forget. **

**REVIEWS! please **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**

**I won't make this too long, since most of you probably don't read these anyway. I'll try to keep my updating schedule. I was sick earlier this week, but I was still able to update a chapter! If I know that I won't be able to upload a new chapter, I'll upload a short story or oneshot. Just to keep you guys interested! Thanks for all the follows and faves! Happy reading!**

** ~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom**

I finished unpacking my stuff, so I ventured out of the tent to look for Griffon. He was sitting over by the fire with, of course, Carl. It had gotten dark probably about an hour or so ago. Most of the group was sitting by the fire. Except for Sophia and her parents, Carol and Ed I later learned. They were sitting at their own fire. Daryl was out hunting everybody guessed, and Merle was sitting at the main fire with us, just a little farther back than most people. Rick, Shane, and Dale, the man who was atop the RV, were sitting together. Martinez was sitting with his family, and Jacqui and T-Dog were sitting together. Andrea was sitting with her younger sister, Amy. I walked slowly up behind Griffon, and put my finger over my lips to let everyone looking at me to not tell him. I snuck up behind him and licked my pointer fingers to get them wet. I slowly put my fingers up to his ears and shoved them in, giving him a "Wet Willie". He jumped up and swiped furiously at his face. He probably thought it was a walker at first, but I mean c'mon, would a walker do that? Everybody started laughing. I held a small smirk on my lips, but Griffon smacked it right off of me. He put me in a headlock and gave me a noogie, sending me into a giggling fit. I slipped out of the headlock and tackled him to the ground and pinned his arms above either side of his head. I climbed on top of him and held him down.

"You wanna give up?" I asked.

"Okay, okay, okay just let me up!" Griffon pleaded.

I smirked and let him up. He sat up and scooted over to make room for me. He looked at me when I didn't sit down right away. We exchanged glances, and he nodded in understanding. He knows that I don't like sitting close to people, and shoulder to shoulder makes me uncomfortable. I sat down and curled into a small ball, hugging my knees up by my chin.

"I'm not sure if anybody else has asked you this, but were you on the police force or something?" Amy asked me.

"No, just grew up that way." I answered her. She nodded, impressed.

"So Sapphire, Griffon. What's your story?" Dale asked us.

Griffon opened his mouth to answer, but thought better of it. He has a habit of going a little more into detail than I would like. He looked to me, and motioned with his hand for me to tell them. I took a deep breath and began.

"We were both in class when we heard about the outbreak. The school dismissed us, we went home and got our stuff. We started to Atlanta after hearin' 'bout the safe zone around it. Got there, ran into Glenn and his little group. And here we are with y'all" I said.

It seemed to satisfy everyone. The talk stayed small, what they were going to do about water, laundry. The usual stuff. After a while, Rick, Lori, and Carl departed to their tent. Glenn, T-Dog, Jacqui, and Martinez with his family went to their tents. Dale went to the RV, and Merle got up without a word and went to his and Daryl's tent. Griffon looked to me when we were the only ones left out, The Peletiers' having gone to sleep a few minutes ago.

"You okay?" He asked.

"'m fine" I told him. He knew that was a lie. I could tell by his face.

"You don't have to bottle it up you know. It's okay to talk about it" Griffon said.

"I told you I'm fine" I told him, a bit harshly.

He didn't seem fazed by it. He nodded and got up off the ground. He walked over to the tent and went inside. I sat by the fire for a little while longer, then got up and looked over to Shane, who was on top of the RV taking watch.

"Hey, Sapphire. Can you come up here for a minute?" Shane said.

I walked over and climbed up the ladder to the top of the RV. I sat down on the edge, my feet dangling over the side.

"So, I had some questions to ask you before you stay for good." Shane stated.

I looked at him questioningly. I must have had a worried look on my face, because he just chuckled and shook his head.

"They're not hard. Just to get a feel for what kind of people you are." Shane said.

"Can we do this tomorrow?" I asked. "When my brother is with me? I don't want to speak for both of us."

He thought for a minute. "Okay."

I nodded in thanks and stood up. I climbed down and walked over to our tent. Griffon was already passed out and sprawled across half the tent. I smiled. He always did hog any space that was meant to be shared. I, on the other hand, always curl up into a ball and sleep that way. Or else, I stretch out, but keep my arms straight down at my sides. I laid down and turned on my side to face the tent wall. I hope those questions Shane wanted to ask me didn't make me have to reveal my past to anyone. I hope they aren't too hard. What if I don't answer them right? What if we get kicked out of the group? These thought were going around in circles in my head as I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up when it was still dark. Well, not dark, but more of a 'right before the sun came up' kind of dark. I slowly sat up, so as to not jostle Griffon and wake him up. Kid needed his sleep. I got up and went out of my tent. Rick sat at the fire by himself, while Dale sat atop of the RV covering watch. I walked out and joined Rick at the fire.

"Sleep okay?" he asked me.

"I never really sleep. Just…rest my eyes, I guess you could say." I told him.

"Good answer" he said, smiling.

"How did you sleep?" I asked.

"A lot better than I have in a long time, knowing my family is safe" he said.

"Well, I'm happy for ya" I said.

"Thanks" he said. "Want some breakfast?"

I looked to what he was eating. It looked like squirrel. "Sure, I love squirrel"

"How did you know it was squirrel?" Rick asked me.

"I hunt. Have since I was 'bout 7. I know squirrel when I see it, even if it is burnt to a crisp" I said, smiling.

"Hey, I haven't cooked over an open fire for a while, okay?" Rick said, defensively.

I held my hands up. "I didn't say I didn't like it burnt."

Rick smiled and handed me a plate with some meat on it.

"You know what would go good with this?" I asked him.

He looked at me questioningly. I got up and ran over to my truck and took out a bottle of TOBASCO sauce. Man I love this stuff. I put it on almost everything I eat. I also grabbed a can of peaches for each of us. I walked back over to Rick and handed him a can of peaches.

"Thanks. What's that?" he asked, pointing to the small bottle of hot sauce.

"Only the best hot sauce on the planet" I answered.

I took the cap off and sprinkled it on my meat, and handed it to him. "Go easy on it, a little goes a long way" I warned him.

He put some on his meat and tried a bite. I nodded to show it was good.

"Told ya" I said.

I finished my breakfast and stood up. I looked to the big lake that was down below our camp.

"I'm gonna go wash off a little bit. Haven't showered in a few days." I told Rick.

"You sure you'll be okay down there by yourself?" he asked me. I walked over to my tent, pulled out my knife and compound bow I had found while raiding stores in Atlanta with Merle. I also grabbed a change of clothes, and a towel. I turned back to him.

"I'll be fine." It told him. I put my knife in its holder and strapped it onto my belt. I put my sheath of arrows over my shoulder, and walked over to the path down to the lake. I made my way down to the edge of the lake. It really is beautiful here. The lake is so inviting, I wanted to just dive into it. I looked around to make sure no one was around to see me. It was still relatively early, so most people would be asleep. I put my bow and arrows down, along with my knife. I took off my boots, followed by my socks. I shrugged off my shirt and cami, and took my cargo pants off. I was left in my bra and underwear. I sat my change of clothes down next to my dirty ones. I quickly took my bra and underwear off and turned back to the lake.

I looked out across it, and smiled. The light breeze felt so good on my bare skin. It felt to be about 70 degrees, even though it was still pretty early. The lake had a light mist rising from it, making it look like a picture form a postcard. I dipped my big toe into the water and it felt amazing. Not too warm, but not freezing cold. I looked around and spotted a big rock sticking out of the water about 10 feet out. I walked out to it, the tips of my hair dipping into the water, and my fingers brushing the surface. I climbed out onto the rock and stood up.

I looked around again, and dove into the water. It was the most wonderful sensation I have ever felt. I popped my head back up above the water and ran my fingers through my hair. To be alone and be able to be carefree for once was something I had never felt before. But, now that I had felt it, there was no going back. I turned onto my back and swam out a little further into the water.

I took the time to sing to myself. Whenever I would get to a place in the woods where no one could find me, I would bring along my iPod and sing along to the songs. No one would ever hear me, but I thought I was pretty good. Now that I was alone, I could sing whatever the hell I wanted, and not have to worry about having an audience. I began to sing softly the words of one of my favorite bands.

_Now I will tell you what I've done for you_

_Fifty-thousand tears I've cried_

_Screaming, deceiving and bleeding for you_

_And you still won't hear me_

_I'm going under_

I turned myself so that I was floating on my back.

_Won't hold your hand this time_

_I'll save myself_

_Maybe I'll wake up for once_

_Not tormented daily, defeated by you_

_Just one night, before I reach the bottom_

I stopped singing right before the chorus, and swam over to the rock and climbed up on it and sat hugging my knees close to my chest.

_I'm done with you, I'm going under_

_Drowning you, I'm falling forever, oh_

_I've got to break through, oh_

_I'm going under_

_Luring and stirring the truth and the lies_

_So I don't know what's real_

_So I don't know what's real and what's not_

_What's real and what's not_

_Always confusing the thoughts in my head_

_Oh, so I can't trust myself anymore_

_I'm done with you, I'm going under_

I sang through the chorus and finished the song. It was the first song that came to my mind because of my father. It made me feel like I was rebelling against him without the beatings as a punishment.

I always remember being jealous of Amy Lee. She was so pretty, and not to make this sound weird or anything, but she had an amazing body shape. Her waist was perfect, her boobs fit her body type, and she was just perfect. I had nice boobs, but they seemed too big for my body. I was a 38C cup, and being skinny like I am, that doesn't seem to fit me.

I walked up onto the land, and I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around myself. I sat down onto the grass and just stared out across the lake. It seemed too good to be true, to be able to live around this wonderful spot. I closed my eyes and let the breeze take me away. I wonder what happened to her. Maybe she got out before it got too bad, but odds were, she didn't make it. Suddenly, I was brought from my thoughts by a twig snapping behind me.

**A/N**

**Just wanted to change up the story a bit. I'm going to be following the story line, but not too closely. I didn't mean for this chapter to be so long, as most of my other ones don't exceed 1800 words. Guess I went a little overboard. Haha, but I guess you guys won't mind. I'll try to get another chapter up by Monday, but no promises. Thanks for reading! Reviews please! Oh, and thanks again for all the follows and favorites! You guys are the best! *pulls all of you into a group hug***

** ~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**

**Thank you so much for all the follows and favorites. It means a lot to me. XOXO Love you guys!**

**PS-m I'm so sorry if this sucks! Writers block can happen to the best of us! **

** ~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom**

My heart leapt up into my throat. I was practically defenseless, not to mention I was in a towel! I hoped it wasn't a walker, but I'd rather it be that than anything else. I gripped my towel tightly, and grabbed my knife that was sitting beside me. I slowly got up and turned around. I didn't see anything. That was peculiar. I turned back around and let my towel drop. I put my sports bra and underwear on and put on my jeans. I was about to pick up my shirt when I heard another twig snap. This time, I knew that I wasn't imagining things. I dropped my shirt and held my knife up while walking forward. There was something that just didn't seem right. I got to the tree line and looked in. Most people wouldn't have seen it, but something seemed out of the ordinary. I looked closer, and saw something black with a sliver of silver sticking out from a grove of trees. I realized it was the tip of a crossbow. It wasn't the crossbow I was afraid of, it was who was behind it that worried me. I had been glancing around so as to make it seem like I didn't notice it. I walked up closer and raised my knife and the crossbow pointed at me. I looked to who was behind the crossbow, and it was Daryl. As if I didn't have enough problems with him already. I lowered my knife while he lowered his crossbow.

"What, are you spying on me now?" I asked.

"No, I was just walking back to camp" he answered back in the same tone I had used; laced with venom.

I just shook my head, knowing full well that was a lie. He wouldn't have been hiding behind a tree if he was 'on his way back to camp'.

"Fuck off" I said to him.

"What did you just say to me?" he spat.

"You heard me. Unless you're deaf. What, you think I'm gonna believe that you were going back to camp? So hiding behind a tree is your normal routine?" I said harshly.

"No, it's not. I heard a noise and came to investigate." He said.

"You sick bastard! You were watching me!" I spat back.

"I was not!" he retorted.

"Don't fucking lie to me. Just fess up. The only thing I hate more than a pervert is a lying pervert" I said.

He looked at me with a look that could kill. I was used to that look, though. Got it all the time from my father. I shook my head and turned to walk back to the shore to put my shirt on. It might not have been helping matters being in a sports bra.

"Hey" Daryl said.

"Why are you still here?" I hissed.

"Were you scratched?" he asked.

I looked at him questioningly. "What…I..no! Why would you ask me that? I would have been dead by now."

"You tellin me that a scratch that big wasn't from a walker?" he asked.

I stood there, trying to figure out what he meant. What big scratch? Was I scratched without knowing? Then it suddenly dawned on me. The "scratch" he was talking about was on my back. It went the length of my spine down to my tailbone. It was from the bastard who caused me years of pain; my dad. I bent down to pick up my shirt and quickly put it on.

"You gonna answer me, sweetheart?" he said sarcastically.

I turned to him. "It's not a walker scratch" I said, between clenched teeth.

"Then what is it?" he asked, menacingly.

"It's none of your business how I got it, or how long I've had it. The point is, _It's. Not. From. A. Walker."_ I said, slowly so that this thick headed dumbass would understand it.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he spat at me. "You tried to kill me a few days ago"

"Listen dumbass, I wasn't trying to kill you. I was teaching you a lesson that you were in need of, desperate need I might add. I would never kill anyone unless I was told to, or they truly deserved it." I told him.

I turned around and picked up my bow and my dirty clothes and towel. I hung my towel around my neck so that the water from my tangled hair wouldn't drip onto my clothes. I expected Daryl to have stalked away, but he was still there, looking at me, then the ground. I rolled my eyes and started back to camp. I chose to take the trail through the woods. I brushed past Daryl and started up. I heard footsteps behind me, they must be Daryl. I turned around to confront him, but there was a walker there instead. I held my clothes in one hand with my bow, and I took out my knife. I wasn't even afraid of walkers anymore. I stabbed my knife through the skull nonchalantly and stepped back when it fell towards me. I pulled my knife back out, and continued walking. I heard another crunch, so I raised my knife and turned around. It was only Daryl.

"Can't let ya walk back to camp by yourself" he stated casually.

"I'll be fine. I got down here by myself." I said.

"That don't mean you will get back by yourself." He said.

"I took you down without any trouble. I don't think I'll be dead any time soon." I argued.

He huffed, but kept silent. I kept walking, with him a few steps behind me. I emerged at the top of the hill, and walked back into camp. By now, most people were up. Dale was still up on the RV taking watch, Lori, Amy, and Andrea were eating breakfast, while Rick talked to Shane over by the cars. Glenn was working on the RV, and Griffon was with Carl and Sophia in the shade. I walked over to our tent and threw my stuff inside. Merle emerged from his tent, and saw Daryl coming up right behind me.

"Well well, looks like Darylina is done sulkin' aroun' in the woods" he said playfully.

I grinned and suppressed a laugh. Daryl growled a "fuck you" at his brother, then disappeared into the tent.

"He give ya any trouble?" Merle asked, still grinning.

"No, just being an annoying asshole like he always is" I answered.

Merle just laughed, then disappeared into the tent he and Daryl shared. I walked over to Rick and Shane, who looked to be having a heated discussion.

"We need to do what's best for everyone else" I heard Shane say.

"Exactly, and the CDC would still most likely be running, and they may be working on a cure" Rick reasoned.

"But Fort Benning is just down the road." Shane argued.

I walked up to them.

"It's a hundred miles down the road!" Rick said.

"125, I checked the map" I said, making myself known.

"Sapphire, come here." Shane said, pulling me by my arm. "Which one of us do you agree with?"

I looked from Rick to Shane, and back to Rick. I let out a laugh. Rick and Shane both looked at me, confused. I just shook my head.

"You two are like elementary kids! Arguing, then dragging someone in to choose which one is right" I said.

Rick grinned, and Shane smirked.

I thought for a minute. "Well, Fort Benning is a long ways away, but it may offer some protection" I reasoned. Shane's face lightened. "However, the CDC is a government agency, and the government would do anything in its power to keep the CDC running for as long as they can. They might be able to help us"

"We'll decide later, we still have time" Shane said.

"I still don't understand why you're dragging me into this. I'm only 17 and I just got here." I said.

"Well, you act like you're a full blown adult" Rick said.

I shrugged. "I had to" was all I said.

I started to walk away, but Shane called me back. "We still have to ask you those questions" he said.

"I'll go get Griffon and we'll be right over" I told him. Shane and Rick nodded.

They followed me back over and I walked over to where the kids were. "Hey, Griffon. Shane needs to ask us a few questions."

"Okay." He answered. He turned to the other kids. "I'll be right back guys"

We walked over to Shane, but saw that he had Rick and Daryl with him. Ugh, just what I wanted, to have to put up with that dumb redneck. I stood in front of Shane, Rick and Daryl turned to us.

"We kind of decide these kind of things in a small group" Shane explained.

I nodded.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Shane asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't take count. Doesn't matter how many if they're already dead." I answered.

Shane nodded, and turned to Griffon. "Same question." He said.

I looked at Griffon. He looked back to me, worry in his eyes. "Probably about 10 or so" he answered.

Shane nodded. He looked to Rick. I guess each member was going to ask me a different question.

"How many people have you killed?" he asked.

I looked at Griffon, and he looked to me, his eyes wide. I could read that expression. It said "Are you gonna tell them?" I nodded.

"One" I answered.

Rick looked to Griffon. Griffon shook his head. "I ain't killed nobody" he answered.

"The hell was that just came outta your mouth?" I asked.

"I _haven't _killed _anybody_" he corrected himself.

Rick nodded. He turned to Daryl. Daryl looked me straight in the eye.

"I guess this don't go for your little brother. He's done with his questions" Daryl said.

I nodded. I patted Griffon's back. "Go on" I told him. He ran back over to the other kids. I turned back to Daryl. I waited for a really hard question from. He would probably make it impossible to answer.

"Why?" he asked.

He must have meant about the one person I killed.

"Because that bastard deserved it" I answered in a growl.

I could have sworn Daryl's expression softened just a little bit. But I couldn't be sure. He stepped back.  
"You can stay" Rick said. Shane nodded in agreement. Daryl agreed with a nod, reluctantly.

"Thanks" I said. I turned around and walked back to the fire. I sat down next to Lori.

"Hey hon" she said.

"Hey" I responded. "So, does everybody have their own chores around here? How does this work?"

"Well, Shane goes down to get water for us to use, some wash clothes, some cook, and some reinforce the traps to alert us if there's any walkers around." She said.

"What could I do to help out? I want to pull my weight around here" I told her.

"Well, you could go fishing for dinner with Amy and Andrea, you could go hunting, or you could check the traps and do a walk around the woods, to make sure they're clear." She said.

"You're not gonna make me cook or clean?" I asked, smiling.

"Well, you seem like the kind of person who would do men's work. No offense or anything" She responded, grinning.

"Well, you got that right." I said. I got up, and walked over to Dale. "Hey Dale?' I shouted up to him.

He looked down at me. "I'm gonna go hunt for a little bit. I'll be back before dusk" I told him.

"Okay, just be careful. Stay within shouting distance." He yelled back.

I gave him a thumbs up to show that I heard. I walked over to my tent and got my new compound bow out and walked over to Griffon. "I'm gonna go hunting for a bit. Stay around Lori and the kids." I told him.

"Okay. Don't worry about me, I'm 14. I can take care of myself." He said.

I nodded. "I know, but you're my only family member left. I can't help but feel protective over you" I said.

He nodded, understanding the meaning behind that. I turned and was starting to walk into the woods when Rick ran up to me.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm gonna go hunt for a little bit. I told Dale I would be back before dusk." I told him.

"Well, I'd feel a lot safer if you had someone with you" he said.

"I hunt by myself all the time, I can take care of myself" I said, mimicking Griffon's words.

"Still, I think you should take someone with you" Rick said.

"Fine, I'll take Griffon with me. He has to learn how to hunt sometime" I said.

Rick let out a sigh. "That's not what I meant, and you know it" he said.

"I'm going alone." I told him. I wasn't going to back down so easily.

Rick sighed again, putting his hands behind his head. "Okay. But please be careful." He said to me.

I smiled. "I will. Trust me" I said.

He smiled and went back over to Lori and Carl. It was only about 9 o'clock and I already was emotionally drained. I just needed some time to myself, to think things over. With that, I turned around and headed into the woods.

**A/N**

**Again, I'm sooooo sorry if this sucked or that it was late! I had writers block, and my friend and I were constantly changing our minds as to how to start the first part of the chapter. Feedback please, it always helps! It especially helps me to avoid problems like writers block! Thanks guys! Love you all! **

** ~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N PLEASE READ AS IT'S VERY IMPORTANT**

**Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that I'm not dead! I had to hand my laptop in since it was a school issued laptop, but I just got it back. Yay! I am so, SO sorry about not updating all summer! That must have been pure hell for you guys. I will try to get back on my old schedule with updates. Thanks for everything! Love you guys!**

** ~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom**

I mulled over what Rick said. That I should take someone with me. Was he right? _No, you work much better alone_, I assured myself. But what if something happened? I wouldn't be able to get back, and would be stranded. I pushed those thoughts out of my head. I've been hunting by myself for 10 years now. I can more than take care of myself. I walked slowly, almost on my tiptoes. I had to be quiet if I was going to catch anything.

Number one rule to Sapphire's Guide to Hunting: DO NOT make yourself known at any time. To hunt, the animal must not know of your presence. I kept walking, slower now, and came upon a clearing in the middle of the forest. It was actually very beautiful. The sky was a dull grey, but the trees were green, and best of all, there was a herd of deer standing in the middle grazing. I counted and there seemed to be about 6. I slowly made my way around the edge of the clearing, and found a spot where I had a perfect shot, but was well hidden behind the bushes. I targeted in on the one that looked to be the biggest, and slowly drew back my bow.

I stayed in that position for a few minutes, making sure that if I did miss it, it might hit another one, or that I would have time to draw another arrow. When I was sure, I let my fingers off the string and the arrow went straight for the deer. It all seemed to go in slow motion, as it seemed it took the arrow forever to get to its target. The deer fell with a soft thud. The rest ran off, as the arrow scared them. I walked out to the deer and bent down to take my arrow out. But I noticed there were two arrows in it. One was mine, the long light grey and green one. But there was another one. It was relatively shorter, with red and yellow feathers. I looked around and saw something flash in the sunlight at the edge of the clearing. I raised my bow and walked over to it. I looked over to the other side, but heard a crack behind me. I whipped around and looked into a crossbow. Daryl. He'd followed me here. I lowered my bow, and he hesitantly lowered his.

"The hell are you doing here?" I asked.

"Rick wanted us to travel in pairs, so I told him I'd watch ya" he answered.

I rolled my eyes. Rick won't give up, will he? "I told him plenty of times, I'll be _just fine _on my own."

"Not my choice to make" he said. "Rick wanted to make sure you're safe."

"So that's the only reason you're out here. To play as Rick's little bitch?" I asked.

Before I knew what was happening, my bow was knocked from my hand and a hand grabbed me from behind. I knife was pressed to my throat.

"Don't you ever say that to me again" Daryl hissed.

"Go ahead" I egged him on. "Do it, see how much I care. I don't have anything to lose except my brother."

Daryl growled, but released me. I picked up my bow and glared at him as I walked over to the deer. He followed me over.

"Whose deer is it?" I asked.

Daryl shrugged. "Don't matter to me"

"Okay then. We'll say it was a combined effort." I said. I bent down and scooped up the deer and threw it up over my shoulders. It was kind of heavy, but nothing that I couldn't handle. Daryl looked at me with astonishment.

"Ya sure you can get that?" he asked, unsure.

"Do you see me strugglin'?" I asked.

He shook his head and trekked back onto the path. I followed him back through the woods.

"So why do you always threaten people?" I asked, nonchalantly.

"Because I feel threatened or I'm pissed off" he answered.

I nodded. "Good enough"

"What 'bout you?" he asked. I looked at him in confusion. "Why do you keep such a tight watch on your brother?"

I looked down and slowed my pace a little. Daryl looked at me questioningly. "Ya okay?" he asked.

I swallowed. "Yeah, 'm fine"

"Don't seem like it. Deer getting' too heavy?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, deer can't get no heavier if it's dead"

"Then what is it?" he asked.

"Nothing" I answered. I sped up my pace again and continued back to camp.

I heard footsteps jogging to catch up. "Hey, c'mon. You didn't answer my question" he said.

I turned to him, a little too hard apparently. I must have jerked the deer because a stream of blood came out and hit Daryl in the face. He took his hand and wiped at his face, then looked back to me.

"Tha hell d'you do that for?" he said angrily.

I felt a smile start to spread on my face. I started giggling like a little school girl while Daryl stared at me in astonishment. "Sorry, it was an accident" I managed to say in between my laughter.

Daryl just shook his head and I could have sworn I saw a smirk pass onto his face. But it was gone as quick as it appeared.

"No seriously. Why?" he asked.

I started walking again. "I'll tell you later"

"How much later?" he pushed.

I looked over to him. "When I feel you're ready to know, and when I'm ready to tell."

And with that, I left him thinking over what I had said while we made our way back to camp. I emerged from the woods with Daryl right behind me.

"Where do you want the deer?" I asked Daryl.

He shrugged. "Over there by Merle n' me's tent" he said. "I'll get Merle to string it up and bleed it out"

"Alright" I answered. I walked over to their tent and Merle stood up from where he was sitting, smoking a cig of course.

"Hey girly" he said. He looked at the deer around my shoulders and whistled. "You catch that yourself?"

"Had some help from your brother" I told him while setting the deer down. "He wants you to string it up and let it bleed out."

"I think I can do that" Merle said.

I nodded my thanks and turned to look around to see where Rick was. I was gonna have some words with that man.

I spotted him over with Shane and Daryl. I walked over to him and stood behind him with my hands on my hips. I cleared my throat and he turned around. Upon seeing me, he smiled that I was back.

"Daryl told me about that deer…" he started, but stopped when he saw that I wasn't smiling. In fact, his smile faded when he saw that I had a look on that could kill him.

Shane looked between me and Rick and looked to Daryl. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Daryl shrug and fold his arms.

"What the hell does the phrase 'I'll be fine' mean to you? Cause' it don't seem to mean the same thing to me as it does you" I growled.

"Well, I…" Rick started, but I cut him off.

"And why would you choose someone who I tried to kill my first day here as my "guardian"? I asked.

"Sapphire, I…" Rick started.

I put my hand over his mouth and pinned him up against a tree. Shane flinched, but Daryl just stood there, watching us.

"Daryl" Shane said. He had a tone that said _Help me get this crazy bitch off of him. _Daryl just smirked and shook his head.

"Seems to me she's doin a mighty fine job" he said. "Let 'er go."

Shane looked at me and Rick hesitantly, but backed off.

I looked back to Rick.

"I am a hunter. I have been hunting on my own for near a decade. I DO NOT need a fucking babysitter." I told him. I heard shuffling and turned around to see Daryl and Shane walking away. I turned back to Rick once more.

"Please, Sapphire, let me explain" Rick said. I nodded for him to continue, and he looked down to my arm. I slowly removed it, and he straightened up and looked at me. "I know you didn't need anybody, but I want everyone in this group to be safe. If something were to have happened out there, what would you be able to do? And what would I tell your brother if you didn't return?"

I looked down at my feet. _How could you not think about your brother? _I was in such a hurry to prove myself that I didn't think of Griffon. I vaguely heard Rick calling me to attention. I jumped when he touched my chin and lifted my head up.

"Sapphire, look at me. I know what you're thinking. That thought just didn't cross you mind. I know you feel like you're being scolded right now, but you're not. As for sending Daryl with you, there was a good reason for that. He is a hunter too, but he knows these woods better than anybody here, even you." Rick said.

I looked at him and nodded. "I just want to know one thing. Why him? It can't be just because he's a good hunter."

Rick smiled. "Well, me and the rest of the camp can't help noticing certain similarities between you and Daryl. Both of you are excellent hunters and trackers, you both hate when people get in your space or touch you, and right now, you both need some food." He finished, with a wide grin on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "I ain't hungry, you don't need to worry 'bout me. I'll be fine."

Rick raised his eyebrows, then nodded and walked away. I looked around and spotted Lori over by the tent with Carl and Griffon. I walked over to her.

"Hey Lori, Carl. Griffon, I'm back." I said.

Griffon looked up and smiled. "I heard you caught something."

I motioned over to the deer hanging by the Dixons' tent. Lori and Carl looked over and smiled.

"Thank you for shooting that" she said, standing up and going to hug me. She must have seen the look of panic and confusion pass through my eyes because she dropped her hand and squeezed mine. "Kids, why don't you go see if Rick or Shane need any help."

Griffon and Carl both got up and ran over to Shane, who smiled at them. I turned back to Lori.

"Thank you for watching Griffon while I was gone. I hope he didn't do nothin' to cause trouble."

Lori laughed. "No, he was an angel. I'm sorry about the hug thing earlier. Rick told me you weren't a big fan of physical contact.

I waved it off. "No big deal, just never liked touching much."

"Well, thank you again." She said. She looked over my shoulder and motioned with her head. "I think someone's looking for you"

I looked behind me and saw Daryl looking at me. I nodded and he nodded his head towards the quarry. I looked at Lori. "I gotta go. Have a good night."

"You too, sweetie" she replied, turning back to what she was doing.

Daryl started walking down to the quarry and I jogged after him. The walk was silent and awkward. I wanted to say something but kept my mouth shut. We reached the quarry and Daryl walked over to the bank and sat down. I stood a few feet away from him, unsure of what to do.

"'m sorry" he muttered. I was unsure if I heard him correctly but did he just say he was _sorry_?

"For what?" I asked.

"Treatin' ya like shit. Guess I underestimated ya" he said.

"It's fine" I said. "Sorry for tryin' to kill ya on my first day here."

He smirked. "Just don' do it again"

I nodded.

"So will ya tell me now?" he asked.

"Tell you what?"

"You know what. Earlier today in the woods. Why do ya keep such a tight leash on your brother?" he asked me.

I let out a sigh. "Well, he's the only family I've got left. Parents are gone, and God knows what happened to my relatives or where they are."

"What happened to your parents?" he asked.

I looked away, and tried not to tear up. Should I tell him? Can I trust him not to tell anyone else?

**A/N **

**Sorry if this chapter sucked. Haven't written in a while. Please remember to review!**


	15. Chapter 15

I sat there, staring at him. _Should I tell him? What if he tells Rick? _I looked away and out across the lake. I just met this guy, should I trust him? He hasn't told me much about himself, so he must be secretive. Which would be a plus for telling him. I looked back to him and saw that his eyes were filled with questions.

I took a deep breath and began. "When I was younger, my family was what you would call a pretty ideal one. Mom, dad, and two kids, a boy and a girl. My brother was 2 at the time, and I was 5. My mom was pickin' us up from daycare. We both ran to her, hugged her like we hadn't seen her in years. Every day." I said, smiling softly at the memory.

I looked up from the ground to look at Daryl, and he was leaning against a tree with his hands tucked under his arms. He noticed that I had stopped, and looked up at me.

"She put us in the back of the car, strapped us in, and started home. We were just turnin' onto the main road when a vehicle came speedin' towards us. Bunch o' police cars were chasin' it. Mom tried to swerve outta the way, but she wasn't fast enough."

I stopped, as I could feel the tears threatening to spill from my eyes as I relived one of my worst memories. I took a deep breath, and continued.

"The car hit the driver's side, smashed right into us. Our car flipped, and rolled down the embankment. My brother was cryin', I was cryin'. Nothin' outta mom. I was able to climb up to the front seat. I started shakin' her." I could feel the tears running down my cheeks at this point. "She wouldn't move, would respond. I called her name over and over, but nothin'. The police came over, called the ambulance, and started tryin' to get us out. They tried to get me out first, but I wouldn't let them. I handed them Griffon, then they cut the door off and got me out. Right after that, the ambulance showed up."

I stopped, trying to steady my voice. I wiped away the tears, and saw that Daryl had an extreme look of sadness in his eyes.

"Griffon and I had a few cuts and bruises, but nothin' major. Then they checked on mom. They pronounced her dead at the scene. Called my dad, who was a full-time worker at an auto company. He rushed over, and checked on mom. He then walked over to us, and had a look of anger in his eyes. He talked the paramedics into lettin' him take us home. We got in his car, and he took us home."

I choked back a sob. "From that point on, he changed. Blamed it on us that mom was dead. Said it was our fault, and even with people tellin' me it wasn't, I started to believe it. Lived with that guilt for the rest of my life. Told Griffon it wasn't his fault, it was only mine. He was too young to remember in full detail what had happened, so I just told him that I was talkin' to mom and she wasn't payin' attention because of me. I've been tellin' him that ever since. Found out later the guy who hit my mom was drunk, high on PCP or somethin' too."

I had slid down against a tree by now, and I was sitting on the ground, silently crying. I looked up at Daryl.

"You wanna know why I keep such a tight watch on my brother? It's because I can't bear to lose the only other person who I love. I don't want his blood on my hands, not like my mom." I said this through tears, because I was full on crying at this point. I heard footsteps walking towards me, and I figured that Daryl was just going to leave me here to cry, that he was leaving and didn't care about what I had just told him. But I soon felt someone sit down beside me, and I looked over. Through my tears, I saw Daryl sitting about a foot away from me, looking me straight in the eye. We sat there silently for a while, and just when I was about to stand up and head back to camp, he spoke.

"When I was little, Merle always would look out for me. Dad was a drunk, mom never left the bed, sat in there smokin' and watchin' tv all day. One day, 'was out playin' with the kids down the street, saw a firetruck rush by. Lotta the other kids had bikes, they sped off, followed it. I ran after them. Rounded the corner, saw everyone starin' at me. Was my house that was on fire. That was my mom, burnt to a crisp. Sittin' in bed, smokin' a damn cig. Merle was doin' another stunt in juvy, so I had to live with dad. Evil sonofa bitch, my dad. Beat Merle and I just for the fun of it."

I could see him going back into the memory. I reached out slowly and touched his hand. He flinched, and snapped his eyes back to mine. But he didn't move his hand like I thought he would.

I looked him in the eyes, and I could see all the pain he had been through. I guess him and me weren't so different after all.

"I know, just by instinct, that you hate when people pity you. I'm the same way. Don't want nobody to feel _sorry _for me or nothin'. Just know that it wasn't your fault." I said sincerely.

He looked at me, and I could tell his eyes were traveling down my neck where just the tip of my scar was visible.

"Don't leave, and don't get freaked out" I said before grabbing my shirt and pulling it over my head. That left me in a sports bra, and I swept my hair to one side and put it over the front of my shoulder. I turned my back towards him, and showed him the scar. I looked over my shoulder, and saw his eyes travel down it over and over again. "This ain't from a walker. It's from my dad."

This was it. He would think I was weird, and now he's gonna get up and leave. I suddenly felt a hand on my back, and I flinched out of habit. His finger started at the base of my neck and traveled down to where the scar disappeared under my jeans. I closed my eyes, strangely comforted by him doing that.

"Hey" he said softly, I turned toward him. "This wasn't your fault."

I smiled sadly. "Yes, it…"

"Don't you dare say that Sapphire" he said.

My eyes widened a bit. He called me by my name? I loved the way he said it, but I don't know why. It was just the way he said it that it sounded beautiful.

"It was _not_ your fault that your mom died. Get that outta your damn head righ' now. You were only 5, for god's sake! Don't think that it was even close to bein' your fault." He said.

I met his eyes, and saw that he actually cared for me. He really meant what he was saying. "Thanks" I said.

He looked puzzled for a minute. "For wha'?"

"I really needed to hear that." I said. I grabbed my shirt and put it back on. He got up, and held out his hand to help me up. I took it with a small smile, and stood up. I started to walk back, but his hand grabbed my arm gently. I turned to look at him, and I noticed just how close we really were to each other. I looked him, and let my eyes travel down to his lips. I wonder what they would feel like against mine…. No, stop it. He's only comforting you because your past is similar to his. That's _it_. I decided to test the waters, to see if there was anything between us, just to humor myself.  
I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, carefully. I didn't know whether he would pull away or lash out, so I wanted to be careful. I felt him go stiff, as I had expected. Then, ever so slowly, I felt his arms find their way around me, and he hugged me back. I was a little shorter than him, so I put my head into the crook of his neck, and he put his head on top of mine. For the first time in a long time, I felt safe, secure. I felt like this was the human touch that I actually needed. A smile found its way to my face.

**A/N**

**I am so so so so so so sorry that it took me so long to update, Finally found the time, and I hope I can write more. Had a pretty bad case of writers' block, but was able to get past it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, leave a review if there is something not right, or if you have any suggestions for the story. Thanks a lot for sticking with me!**

** ~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N**

**Thank you for all the reviews! School is pretty busy, but I will still find time to write. As for those of you reading my NCIS fic, I will update it shortly, don't worry!**

** ~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom**

I hesitantly raised my head to look up at Daryl, and he looked down, noticing my movement. His eyes held something I could only describe as care. _He cares for me?_ I let go of him, and his arms went right back down to his sides.

"We should probably head back up, they'll be looking for us." I said.

Daryl nodded, and we started back up the hill. We got to the top and walked over to where Merle was now starting the process of gutting the deer.

"Need any help?" I asked him, as Daryl stood behind me.

"Nah, you and Darylina have done enough. I'll take care 'a this, you two go along and play." He said, with a small smile on his face while he continued to work.

Daryl scoffed behind me as he turned around and walked over to the RV. I followed him over.

"What?" I asked him.

"He ain't never that nice to nobody." Daryl said. "He's usually huntin' me down to make me do it myself. He must've taken a likin' to you."

It was my turn to scoff. "Doubt it" I said.

He turned back to Dale, who was currently sitting on top of the RV where he always is. "Hey, ol' man. Take a break. I'll keep watch."

Dale looked down at him. "Alright" he said, getting up and climbing down the ladder. He handed Daryl his gun, and Daryl climbed up and sat in the chair under the umbrella. I chuckled, and he looked down at me.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing, you just look stylish under your little umbrella." I said, smiling.

He smirked and turned his head away from me. "Shut up" he said, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

I smiled, and turned around and walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down to the quarry. I saw Shane and Carl down there, it looked like they were tying knots and playing in the water. Shane had his shirt off, as did Carl, and I didn't blame them. I looked down at my watch, and it read 12:30. It was blistering hot out, and I suddenly wished I was a guy so that I could take my shirt off and not have people give me looks of disbelief and disapproval. I saw Shane look up to me, and smile and wave. Carl did as well, I and smiled and waved back.

Carl held up the knot he had just finished tying, and I instantly recognized it as a reef knot, even from this far away. It looked flawless from what I could tell, so I nodded and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled wider, if that was even possible, and looked back down. I looked over to Shane, and saw his eyes raking over my body. It made me kind of uncomfortable, but I didn't blame him. I couldn't help my eyes raking over his six pack, it was just second nature. Still, I didn't like it. I turned away and walked over to where Griffon was sitting at the steps of the RV, talking with Amy. I smiled at Griffon and Amy, and they both smiled back.

I couldn't help but notice how nice everyone was being. I'm not one to ever let my guard down, but I'm actually starting to like it here. The people around here aren't all related, at least to my knowledge, but they all worked together and looked out for each other like one giant family. It's something that I'm not used to, but it's… nice. I'm actually starting to enjoy the company of other people, and they are always trying to help me and keep me safe. It felt kinda good to be accepted into the group.

I saw Lori coming out of the woods with a plastic bucket. I walked over to her and she stopped and smiled at me.

"Hey hon" she said.

"Hey" I said. "What's that?"

"Just some mushrooms I found. I assume you know a little more about mushrooms than I do, so could you tell me if these are fit to eat or not?" she asked.

I nodded. "Sure."

She held out the bucket, and I looked down. I picked each one up and examined it for a moment before putting it down and moving onto the next one. I looked back up and smiled.

"They're not poisonous. It's perfectly fine to eat them." I concluded.

"Thank you. Would you be able to go and see if you could find any more? My feet started to get tired, so I came back." She said.

I nodded again. "Of course"

She dumped the mushrooms into a small bowl that Andrea handed her. She handed me the bucket, and I smiled and walked into the woods.

It took a little while of walking to actually find a grove of mushrooms. I bent down, and examined them. They were edible, so I started picking as many as I could. I picked the entire batch, then moved on to another patch nearby. I was just starting to pick them when I heard rustling behind me. I figured it could be a walker, so I froze, grabbed my knife, and spun around.

I didn't see anything.

I looked all around, but couldn't pinpoint the noise. I hesitantly lowered my knife, and continued to pick more mushrooms.

It was not ten seconds later that I heard a twig crack. I stood up quickly and spun around again, only to see a rabbit sitting about 20 yards away from me.

_Damn, _I thought. _I don't have my bow with me, only my knife. _I contemplated whether I should try throwing the knife, but quickly dismissed the thought, as throwing never was an area of strength for me. The rabbit soon poked its ear up, and quickly hopped away in the opposite direction of me. I furrowed my brow, as I looked around where it was to see what had startled it.

I suddenly felt something grab me and put its hand over my mouth. I tried to scream, but the hand prevented me from doing so. I fell to the ground, and rolled onto my back to see who my attacker was. I looked up, knife in hand, when I saw it was none other than Shane.

"Hey, girly" he said.

"Shane" I said. "What the hell was that!?"

"You put up quite a fight, I thought you were gonna stab me with that thing" he said, motioning his head to my knife.

"Don't be so sure, I still might" I threatened.

He chuckled. "C'mon now, don't be like that. We both know you want a piece of this" he said.

I frowned. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Don't pretend you weren't starin' me down when Carl and I were down at the quarry." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Well, it was kinda hard not to, besides, you did the same thing to me." I said dismissively.

"Don't be playin' hard to get sweetheart, you don't have to." He said. He ran a hand up my calf.

"Shane, stop. This isn't funny anymore." I said.

"Not tryin' to be funny, gorgeous, just tryin' to show ya I want it too." He said. "We don't have to tell anyone."

His hand traveled further up my leg until his hand was on my upper thigh near my hip. I squirmed to try and get out of his grip, but he held me down tighter. I made a noise of frustration and kept trying, but he kept holding me down. His other hand went up under my shirt and groped my breast through my bra. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, as he started trying to rip off my shirt. He grabbed it by the neck and pulled, tearing the fabric almost completely in half to where only my sports bra was protecting me. He started to unbuckle his jeans and I closed my eyes, trying not to cry out. I knew no one would hear me, we were too far back in the woods away from camp.

I felt my jeans being unbuttoned and the zipper being pulled down when Shane's weight was suddenly gone. I willed myself to open my eyes just in time to see Daryl punch him and throw him up against a tree, face first. He continued to punch Shane until one good right hook to the jaw knocked him out cold. Daryl spat on Shane, and then looked over to me.  
I probably look pathetic, with my shirt ripped open and trembling uncontrollably, tears starting to stream down my face. I was breathing heavily, and Daryl walked over to me and knelt down.

"If I'da known he'd do this, I woulda come with ya." He said.

I shook my head. "It wasn't your fault" I said.

"Yeah, it is. I shoulda known he'd do something like this" he said.

I looked up and met his eyes, and I let all the pain well up in my chest, to the point where I thought I might explode.

"Did he…" Daryl started.

"No" I quickly cut him off. I knew what he was going to ask. "He was about to when you showed up."

Daryl nodded. He then looked down at my shredded shirt. I tried to cover myself up, but only did a half-decent job of it. He started to unbutton his flannel.

"You don't have to…" I started, but he stopped me by looking straight into my eyes with his piercing blue ones.

"'s the least I can do. Can't have ya walkin' around in just… that" he said, motioning to my sports bra.

"What about you?" I asked.

"I got an ol' wife beater on under this" he said, while undoing the last of the buttons and taking off his sleeveless flannel. He handed it to me, and I reached out and took it. Our fingers brushed against each other, and I felt a tingle spread from my hand all throughout my body. I took my shredded shirt off and put his flannel on. I inhaled the scent of him, it smelled just like the woods mixed with a bit of sweat. It may sound nasty, but it was comforting. It simply smelled like him.

I buttoned it up and balled up my now useless t-shirt. I started to get up when I cried out in pain and fell right back down. Daryl was instantly right at my side, catching me before I fell.

"Ya okay?" He asked me, a worried look in his eyes.

"Yeah" I said, dismissing him with the wave of my hand. I went to try to get up again, but came face to face with the same result as the last time. I looked up to Daryl to see him with a soft glare.

"Yeah, sure ya are" he said.

"I think it's my ankle. I must have rolled it when Shane… ya know" I said. I was still shaken up a bit, and couldn't bring myself to say it.

"Can ya put any weight on it?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "You saw what happens when I even try to stand up."

He looked down at me, letting his eyes stare right into mine. It was hard to tear mine away from his. They are a deep sea blue color, and I can only describe them as hypnotic. He seemed to be regarding me for a second, and then bent back down to look at my ankle. He gently took it in his hands and moved it around. I winced, but didn't cry out.  
"Doesn't feel broken. I think you're right, just rolled it" he announced.

I nodded, and before I could even ask how we were going to get back to camp, I felt myself being scooped up off of the ground into his arms, bridal style. He lifted me so easily, it took me a minute to register that I was actually above the ground. I looked up at him and met his gaze. I gave him a small smile, and he turned around and started walking back to camp.

"You sure you'll be able to carry me all that way without getting tired?" I teased him.

He quickly readjusted me by tossing me quickly up in the air just a bit to get a tighter hold, to which I squealed in surprise. I looked back at him to see him smirking.

"I think I can handle it" he said.

I smiled at that, and we continued the walk back to camp. It was strangely comforting to be in his arms. I was confused as to why I was thinking this, as a week ago I would have probably sucker punched anyone who made any move whatsoever to touch me. It was then that all the excitement started to really catch up to me, and my adrenaline crashed suddenly. I felt my eyes getting droopy, and felt sleep trying to overtake me. I leaned my head against Daryl's chest, and breathed in his scent again. Something about him was really comforting, and I felt that in his arms was where I belong. I nuzzled my head further into his chest, and listened to the steady beating of his heart. I started to drift off, and let my eyes close. I was just about to fall asleep when I felt him gently tuck me further into him, and his thumb started to draw tiny circles on my arm where he was holding me up. We still have a little while until we get back to camp, so why not take a little nap. Today has been one crazy day.

"Go ahead" Daryl said, startling me.

"What?" I asked him, confused.

"Go ta sleep, you had a hard day. Ya deserve it" he said.

I closed my eyes and burrowed further into his chest, if that was even possible, and fell asleep for the first time with a smile on my face.

**A/N **

**Hope you guys liked the chapter, it took me some time to write! Definitely one of the most emotional chapters I've ever written, I actually had to stop a few times and remind myself to keep breathing. As always, follows, faves, and reviews help loads. Love you guys!**

** ~TheHerringCalledOmnomnom**


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